


Apollo's Child

by Geeks4Squeaks



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Child, Clovis - Freeform, F/F, F/M, Fanfic, Gen, Girl - Freeform, Goddess, Gods, Good, Jackson - Freeform, Kid - Freeform, Leo - Freeform, Love, Lovely, M/M, Magnus - Freeform, Minor Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Multi, Not, Not Mary Sue, OC, Other, Sleep, annabeth - Freeform, apollo - Freeform, daughter - Freeform, great, hits, percy - Freeform, percy jackson - Freeform, sun - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-03-07 20:55:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 22,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13443210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geeks4Squeaks/pseuds/Geeks4Squeaks
Summary: Fifteen year old Avery Ace grew up with tales of gods and goddesses of Greek and Roman myth. Her mother told her crazy stories of a camp she had been told to bring her to at the age of twelve. It was practically in their backyard of Long Island, New York! The only problem is that mom is gone and Avery is three years late. She's had enough of her step-father and sucky life so she runs away. And this time, she plans to stay hidden.





	1. Chapter 1: Pursued By Hedge Hogs with Rabies

**Author's Note:**

  * For [CrookedAnchors](https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrookedAnchors/gifts).



> THIS WILL NOT BE A READER X CLOVIS. THIS IS AVERY X CLOVIS IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT PLEASE DON'T HATE JUST RUN AWAY. PLEASE.  
> Read from Clovis's POV from Jezzycat202's Son of Hypnos!

Crash! Boom! BANG! There goes the neighbors cat.

"AVERY ACE!" booms the little old lady from below. She was always a cranky old hag, but hey, what do you expect out of a landlady?

"Sorry, Ms. Ivan," I mutter and hid a grin. I glance back, checking to make sure my step-father was still a drunken man snoring on the couch.

I begin searching through my small drawer which held what I had of clothes. I stuffed various clothing into my raggedy backpack not really caring what went in there. I snatch up my mother's necklace and placed the small PB & J sandwich on the top of my bag. I hope that was enough- I am a bottomless pit.

Carefully, I slip out the door, hoping my run away attempt was successful unlike the last few times.

~*~

I had been walking for nearly an hour in the woods a few miles from my house. It was nothing new however, I have ran from home this way every time. This time however, I planned to stay away for good. To never see that man's damned face again.

Crunch.

I whip around to see the possible threat, my heart began beating faster and I tapped my fingers.

"Uh... Hello?" I ask. I mentally face palmed though, everyone in horror movies who ask hello as if the murderer will respond, gets killed first. Wonderful. But, there was no response so I kept walking, but this time, faster.

Snap.

That was the last straw for me, I began running, not giving it a second thought. I keep glancing behind me to see if someone or something was chasing me but that was my mistake.

"Ugh!" I groan as I ran right into something: or someone.

"What the Hades!" a man's voice cries out as I feel flat on my butt.

"What!?" I cry out. "Hades?!What?"

"Who are you?" he asks, his eyes wild in panic and hope. He had tan skin and sun bleached blond hair. Where does someone get that look in the middle of a forest? And why is he in the middle of the forest?

Why are you in the middle of the forest dumbass.

"I don't know, who are you?" I fire back.

"Will, and I don't believe you can be here," Will says sharply, his eyes darting around alert and looking for something.

"Avery, and why?" I ask. What was he looking for?

"You're trespassing," he responds again. "You really need to go."

"Wait no! Please! I checked all of the signs before I came in these woods! There is supposed to be a camp! A safe camp!" I say quickly.

"You read all of the signs?" Will asks.

"Well... no but-"

"Then you will no there is no camp here," he says sharply.

"No please! It's a camp, a real camp. My mother told me stories about this camp. It had lots of other kids and it had gods? Or... I am sounding crazy but-" I try to explain. My mom, she used to tell me the same story over and over about how my real dad had disappeared before I was born and that he had told my mom about a camp that I would need to be sent off to it when I reached the age of 12 - that I will have to go alone because no one will come and save me. Save the day.

Well. There is a slight problem.. I am 15. That's three years late.

"Do you... do you have a younger sibling?" Will breaths out. What the hell kind of question was that?

"No, why?" I began slowly backing away. Stranger danger much?

"So you don't know anyone name 'Ace'," He says shifting around wide eyed.

"Uh-um.... that's my last name." I say softly.

"You're name is Avery Ace?" he asks in utter disbelief.

"Y-Yes," I answer getting a bit scared, I hadn't considered any sort of danger until now.

"How old are you?" He says flatly. Wow so much for not talking to strangers.

"Fifteen last time I checked," I chirp, but my voice cracks. Will buries his hands in his face and shook his head.

"You and I have a lot of explaining to do, but for right now we need to run." Will says.

"And why do you think I an going to run with you anywhere. I literally just met you!" I hiss. Will frowns and looks me dead in the eye, his once innocent looking eyes deep and angry.

"You obviously ran away for a reason and I don't see you running back," Will snaps right back. I dip my head slightly in shame and follow his nimble path as we run to wherever the hell we end up at.

"Where are we going?" I huff, Will looks to a tree and rakes a sharp turn, making me stumble ungracefully.

"Camp," he responds, glancing back over his shoulder.

"I thought you said there was no camp!" I shout angrily. I shrug shoulders to keep my booking from falling. I half wished I had packed something heavy to I souls hit a certain someone over the head.

"Keep your voice down!" Will hisses, fear lacing his words.

I stop in my tracks completely, skidding to a stop. I am panting heavily and Will takes a moment to realize I am not following him.

"What are you even running from! It's Long Island, New York! The most dangerous thing here would be a hedge hog with rabies for gods sake!" I shout, throwing my arms out.

"Avery please, there is so much you don't know but I promise to explain everything once we get to the camp. But for right now, it is not safe out here and we are getting pursued." Will says. He had walked closer to me, his eyes begging me to listen but I was a stubborn child and I knew it. The sun was starting to set and I had been running around aimlessly in the middle of a forest with a blonde boy I met not even twenty minutes ago.

"Pursed by head hogs with rabies?" I say doubtfully. Whatever he was smoking I wanted.

Suddenly, a horrid whale followed by grunts and angry huffing bounded out from behind me. Will snapped his arm behind my back, pushing me forward. I stumbled before regaining my balance and snapping around.

Will had a small bronze colored dagger out, he waved it around rapidly at a dysfunctional looking boar. The boar had deep rows eyes that caught the light at odd angles. It's fur was torn and tugged and its tusks cracked and discolored. My eyes widened and my mind went blank. What the Fu-

Will stomped his foot on the boars snout. It staggered and whined, and Will spun around, his eyes wild.

"Run!" Will shrieks and my god did we run.

Slowly, Will began to tuning faster and in ended up in front of me. I sigh, a tiny bit of sadness in me as I rip my book bag off of me to release some of the weight. I quickly caught up to Will now. My only PB and J was in that bag and man was I craving it now.

"We are almost there!"Will shouts over the slowly growing sound of hooves and shrill shrieks. I only nod even though I knew he couldn't see it.

Finally an arch way with two torches came into view. On the other side seemed like the rest of the forest, blank and empty. Panic rose in my chest. Had I literally been kidnapped willingly?

Will was first to cross the archway and he simply vanished without a trace. I slow down and look through it. He was literally not there. Had I been seeing things? I glance behind me to see out of the corner of my eye, a hoard of those hideous boars rounding a tree coming straight at me. Every instinct in my body was screaming, "Screw it," as I spun on my heel and ran through the arch way.

The sudden rush of cool air and smell of strawberries fill my senses. I snap my eyes open, not realizing I had closed them in the first place, and look around. Instead of being a dull blue gray sky from the forest, the sky was an ecstatic orange, yellow, and pink. Will was bent over, his hands on his knees as he panted. Several people began looking our way, a few even running up the hill to meet us. The first to arrive was a young girl with wavy blonde hair tightly tied back.

Her striking blue eyes glance down to Will first, then to me.

"I thought you went to get Ace? Who is this?" The girl and, concern in her tone. Will stands up straight and gestures to me.

"Anna be the, this is Ace. Avery Ace." Will says softly. I immediately feel comforted by his tone but was quickly swept away with the look I got from Annabeth.

"Ace is a last name.." She says to herself. Her eyebrows deepen and she frowns, confusion in her eyes. "How old are you?" She asks suddenly.

"Why is my age so important all of the sudden?" I groan and roll my eyes distastefully. "I am fifteen."

"How?" Annabeth whispers, her eyes wide in disbelief.

"It wouldn't be the first time this has happened it's just seen a while since it has happened." Will breathes out.

"What?" I demand.

"Ace was supposed to be brought into the camp today because he turned twelve and was just starting have her scent picked up. You are three years late." Annabeth says. Will and Annabeth meet worried glances and look back to me.

"Maybe you were three years late." I mumble softly. I had to save myself from the definition of hell hole. I had given up on my knight and shining armor and became my own hero. Or at least I tried to.

Curious campers began to gather more and more, soft murmurs and wondering eyes upon me. Will and Annabeth turned away from me in a private conversation. That left me mostly unsupervised.

Bad mistake.

I turn behind me to look at the shimmering arch way behind me. In it I could see the boars circling around and I my breath quickens before I realize something is preventing them from getting in. I walk closer to the edge, taking careful steps until I am nearly touching it. I stick my hand through experimentally. The image of the boars ripples and they twitch but nothing happens. Finally, channeling the ballsy no fear side of myself, I stick my whole body outside of the barrier. The warm welcoming sun was no longer on my back and the air spelled of pine. The boars hiss and squeal, rampaging around. I yank myself back into the camp barrier and everything goes back to a pleasant aroma.

And I repeat the process, in out in out. My confidence growing as well as the mischievous smirk on my face.

"I'm in, and I am out, in, out," I snicker and tease. The horrid boars whale in anger, attempting to charge at the magic barrier but didnt progress any further. Just as I was to take another daring jump back to the 'Pumba Wannabees' a firm hand gripped the back of my shirt, choking me slightly.

"What the Hades?! We can't leave you alone for even a few minutes!" Will scolds and he releases me. Annabeth looks at me disapprovingly but I brush it off. I was used to that all too familiar look.

"Why?" Annabeth asks to no one in particular as she bites the inside of her cheek.

"Why not? They were chasing Will and I so I thought I would give a little taste of their own medicine," I say. Annabeth looks at me as if I am stupid which is more than likely true. I knew I should shut my mouth though, I tend to have a fairly weak speech filter.

"I mean come on, they sound like parrots choking on plastic. Who doesn't want more of that lovely sound." I say sarcasticly. Keeping my mouth shut was not working. Annabeth eyes narrowed and I knew then I had made a bad choice.

"We had better start a tour then, yea?" Will says, breaking the awkward silence between us. Annabeth only nods and we begin walking. She shoo's away the on looking campers. I pop a piece of gum I had found buried in my pocket into my mouth and began chopping on it, stifling my hands in my pockets. I try and act as calm as I possibly can, trying to keep my cool. Inside I was truly panicking, though. But hey, if you don't look the part you can forget about it, right?

Will begins explaining everything to me. What the camp is, what is normal, what isn't. We walk down by each cabin, past the camp fire, around the training field and back up to the dining pavilion. We stop there and only a few people cast curious glances towards me.

"I need to meet with Chiron, our overseer, just grab a plate and sit down at an empty table. Don't so anything stupid and try to make friends. Alright?" He says. I nod and he walks away. I sigh briefly before spotting Annabeth who was wall of towards me. I figured Will and her probably had 'shifts' for watching me which was no fun. That means no misbehavior even if it is unintentional.

"This is where you will eat, as of now," she says slowly. I smile innocently at her and immediately she frowns. "Ok, Freako. Let's get you some food." She responds, shaking it off. I frown too at the sudden choice of names. I knew I should brush it off but the stubborn and naive part of me wouldn't have that and Annabeth was going to get it.

My mind was screaming at me to do it. To do the very wrong mischievous action that has been itching my mind raw since I left the house this morning. I take a deep breath knowing with every fiber my body would regret this but my mind wouldn't. A part of me wondered if I had Tourettes Syndrome because I really felt the need to do this.

I step forward and wind back my arm, going in for the kill.

TWACK!

Long story short- I have a bruise in the shape of a rhino on the left side of my face. Pretty cool besides the slight occasional throb. And yea, I spanked Annabeth. 

It was worth it.


	2. Always Choose the Kid Drowning in Milk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> See that kid over there? Drowning in his bowl of cereal? Befriend him.

I sit alone with Will at an empty table, an ice pack to my face. I push and poke the jelly like beads in the ice pack in a bored manner.

"I said to make friends not destroy them," Will sighs as he taps his fingers thoughtfully on the wooden table. Well obviously you didn't tell Annabeth that. I thought to myself. I glance over to where Annabeth sat fuming on the bench. She was surrounded by other kids. Some had their faces buried in books, others simply listening to her rant. A boy with dark hair and curious blue eyes sat beside her, resting his cheek in his palm.

"I am just not good at it okay? I usually make people uncomfortable no matter what but you know, mostly on accident. If they don't do much about it then I consider them a friend. If they can't handle me I won't handle them." I groan.

"Does that mean I am a friend already?" Will chuckles.

"I would say so." I mumble. Will nods his head gently.

"Just talk to other people like you talk to me and you will do fine here in camp. I know it takes quite a bit of adjusting and all but it works, alright?" Will confirms. I nod and play with the sloshy mess of soup. "My best advice is keep yourself open for friends but if you find a good friends hang close to them and they'll know what to do okay?" I nod my head again. He faintly reminded me of my mother when I was younger.

Hoots and whistles rung out from the other side and Will snaps his attention to a table of kids who had armed their spoons with peas and mashed potatoes. He gives me a reassuring glance before speeding over to break up the food fight that was now in full blow. That left me unsupervised for the second time today.

The boy that had been sitting by Annabeth had stood now, a slight scowl on his face. His hair was fluffy and oddly soft looking. He smelled like salt. Hope that doesn't say something about his personality.

"Hello, Avery, right? I am Percy Jackson, and you spanked my girlfriend." he grunts. Was he scolding me? Percy looked angry but his eyes told a different story.

"Hello, Percy I am Avery Ace, and I spanked your girlfriend," I reply with a straight face. Better straight forward, right? Percy looked dumbfounded, but his eyes shined with amusement. He swung down beside be bumping hips as he leans in by my ear.

"How the heck did you get away with that?!" he asks, he was so amused like a small boy would look at his toys. I nearly choked on my spit. I had expected him to give me a lecture how that was wrong and to please not do that again but instead he asks this?

"I didn't, I got a nice punch in the face," I mutter, but I couldn't help but to smile at my small achievement. Will should be proud- I believe I have just made a new friend.

"You got off really easy! Last time I did that, she almost broke my arm," he frowns, and I began squirming happily in my seat. "But you know, please don't do it again because she just rants to me about it the whole day and I don't really like to hear it." He sighs. Will made his way back, and as he sat down, he gave Percy a half wave. Percy returned the gesture and saunters back to Annabeth's side. 

"Tonight a bunch of the newcomers... well only you I guess, gather around the campfire. Then your godly parent will claim you and you can sleep in that cabin. Easy as that!" Will explains, looking me right in the eyes to make sure I understood. I nod my head carefully. "I'll tell you what, why don't you point to a table and I will explain what they're all about. I don't want you to go into this completely blind." Will says softly.

"Alrighty, those guys," I say pointing to the table of kids who had started to food fight. Two of them were now arm wrestling and the others were pounding their fists on the table and shouting. They were a loud bunch- and I liked it.

"Those are the Ares kids. Ares is the god of war. Those kids are excellent in battle and work closely with the Athena kids when it comes to Capture the Flag and training. They tend to be a bit rambunctious and frank but they're good kids. Roman form is Mars." Will explains. "And the table Annabeth is sitting at is the Athena table. Known for their smarts and tactics. Percy is her boyfriend, he's not an Athena kid."

"Wait is there like a Roman camp?" I ask. I suddenly realize that there was a lot more to know.

"Yea, long story, we really didn't know about each other until a bit ago but we mostly get along. Piper, of the Aphrodite Cabin, is dating Jason who comes from the Roman camp but he's here a lot," Will says, gesturing towards a table where several kids are huddling together. A few are painting their nails, others braiding hair, and one in particular looking like she's on her high horse.

I look around to see a table where kids are humming and simply smiling. I am informed that it's the Apollo table. Another table is making little crafts and coloring and it reminds me faintly of the Apollo cabin. Apparently the kids belong to a goddess named Iris.

Kids buzz about fidgiting with bronze parts and gears. They all seem to have a smear of oil on their face, their clothes, or both. One kid stood out however, with his spunky dark brown hair and wild eyes. A bunch of the kids surrounded him as he dug in a small fanny-pack looking bag on his side.

"Hephaestus kids. He's the god of fire, metal working, and smithing. The kids are really good at making things and physics in general. They're the ones to talk to if you've got a problem with anything mechanical or that whirs." Will explains. "The middle one, his name is Leo, by the way. He's very outgoing so if you are approached by him expect cocky and playful." Will points out and I nod. I turn my attention to a table where only one kid sat at.

The boy had wild curly hair that made it look like he had literally just rolled out of bed. His head bobbed unevenly. Every time it fell he snapped it back up and repeated the same sleepy process. 

"That one." I point to the table where the curly haired, blonde boy was slumped. "That would be Clovis Atwood of the Hypnos Cabin. I am guessing the rest of his siblings are back in the cabin sleeping." He explains.

."So they're parent is the god of sleep and boring stuff?" I ask. Looking at the boy whose face was now buried in his cereal. I was waiting for him to drown in milk.

Will chuckles and shrugs. " I guess it does look like that, but no. Hypnos is the god of sleep, yes, but also mess around with dreams and stuff. Him as well as his children can manipulate most dreams and even walk among them, change them, or see others dreams. Creepy, right?" Will leans forward, propping his elbows on the table.

"The Hypnos Cabin and The Apollo Cabin work closely with each other. Together we can cure most nightmares, insomnia, and injuries in general." He smiles.

"Would it be a good idea to befriend him?" I ask. Will raises his eyebrows.

"Out of all the kids here... you want to chose the boy who is currently drowning in a bowl of milk?" He asks. We pause before both laughing, it did sound a bit ridiculous. 

"Sure, go for it," He replies. As if on cue, Clovis's head snaps up. He stands and begins to shuffle away on unsteady feet.

"I am going to attempt to creep him out and then befriend him," I declare, scrambling out of my seat.

"What ever works for you," Will sighs, rolling his eyes.

I dart out from my table and caught up to him easily. I took a deep breath and walk right in front of him. He stops walking quickly, looking baffled and very confused. I leaned my nose in, raising my eyebrows. He looked slightly uncomfortable but didn't back away. Maybe he was still processing.

"Hia, my name is Avery. Yours?" I say, not moving. He blinks a few times.

"C-clovis," he says uncertain and slightly backing away.

"Friends?" I ask. Man I loved testing my boundaries.

"Friends?" he repeats as a question.

"Sure," I reply.

"Why are you always tired? Why can't you be up more? How old are you?" I ask rapidly. Clovis yawns, still only taking in half of what I have to say.

"I'm a child of Hypnos, I'm tired, and I am sixteen last time I checked," he says. I smile warmly, backing off by nearly a mile. He hadn't shoved me away or smacked me yet. I liked him. He would be able to handle my painfully obvious eccentric attitude well.

"I'm so loud, weird, and uncomfortable, so why aren't you running away from me?" I ask, nearly skipping to keep up with his slow yet long strides.

"I really don't know," He says quietly, confused at himself. I hadn't realized we were at the cabin until he opened the door. He didn't close it behind him, so I took that as a 'welcome in' gesture. Immediately the smell of honey, lavender, and something I couldn't place hit my nose. The room was dark and I blink several times in attempt to adjust my eyes. Clovis didn't seem at all affected.

"E-eh..Im going to sleep.. what are you going to do," he mumbles plopping down on a fluffy comfortable bed. He fidgets with his hands as if unsure of what to do. I am guessing it was not new to have several people including strangers to march into the cabin and sleep. There were several fluffy beds and pillows and blankets scattered everywhere. The quiet sound of water trickling down something was entrancing and calmed me... even if I didn't want to be calmed. It looked about as comfortable as it sounded.

"I don't know, I'm not tired. I could just watch you," I say. I hadn't thought that I would even get this far.

"Ok.. so no sleep for me.." he mutters under his breath and rubs his eyes carefully.

"Age? Who do you think your godly parent is, and what are you doing?" he asks as if trying to entertain himself as much as me. I clambered up onto the top bunk and flipped myself upside down, my hair dangling below me.

"I am sixteen, I don't really know. I just found out that gods and godesses are like a one hundred percent thing and not stories my mom told me. And I am keeping myself awake-it's really not that hard." I reply, my long sandy blonde hair swaying every which way as I use actions to express myself.

We sat, or he sat and I dangled, in silence for a few minutes.

"Tell me something I don't know," he throws out, sighing tiredly. I thought hard. There is a lot he doesn't know... just what should I tell him? A stupid idea, but an idea nonetheless, popped in my head.

"My eyes are green and yours are blue, but we are the same age, I like you." I smile proudly. I was a poet and I didn't realize it. Clovis face palmed, the quiet sound of his palm coming in contact with his forehead echoing softly.

"Get down from there, because its draining your IQ level, and then you talk out loud making it worse," he remarks.

"No it's not," I protest. "My IQ is just fine. I know some Spanish."

"Spanish has nothing to do with IQ. Not to mention that Spanish doesn't really come in too handy at this camp. Latin, however, does." He says and his lips turn upwards slightly.

"Oh.." I mumble. "Like... legit Latin?" I ask.

"Yes. Legit Latin." He says, crossing his arms in front of him.

For the next few minutes, hours, days, it seems, we talk and visit. He becomes more relaxed and cheerful to speak to me.

"How long has it been?" Clovis asks after a yawn and cracking of his knuckles.

"About two hours or so I think?" I reply casually. Suddenly he jumps up, looking alive for once. Or at least panicked, I didn't know the difference really.

"The campfire! Come on hurry, Avery!" he yells half way out the door already. The what? I fall ungracefully from the top bunk and scrambled out, stumbling on clothes and other random things on the floor as I rush out of the Hypnos Cabin.


	3. Punch the Drew

I easily ran in front of Clovis but always retreated back because I had no idea where I was going at any time. Finally, the soft light of the campfire came in sight and I smile happily. I spot a slightly concerned Will and trot over to him, Clovis panting and groaning behind me.

"Finally, wondering where you guys were at!" Will sighed and throws his arms around us.

"Just in the Hypnos Cabin," Clovis replies wincing as Will hugs him too tight.

"Ok so here is the rundown of the campfire ceremony," Will starts. "Your godly parent will claim you by pretty much making their symbol hover over your head and that's pretty much all. After that we party for a little bit more and that night you'll be sleeping in the cabin of you parent. You'll get to meet your half-siblings, know how things work, and be able to get into the daily schedule."

"You make it sound so easy," I smile, my own excitement bubbling over and I shifted on antsy feet.

Will chuckles and rests his hand on my shoulder.

"That's because it is. Now go off and meet some more people. These kids will most likely be spending the rest of their days with you so don't make enemies." He explains. I nod my head and roll my eyes a little bit before Will is suddenly drug off.

Clovis, who I had forgotten was behind me, tugs lightly on my sleeve. I turn towards him knowing he probably has something to say- whether it was good or bad.

"See those kids over there? The unreasonable pretty and 'perfect' ones?" He points. I nod my head. "Yea... stay away from them. Especially the one that looks like Barbie's distant cousin. Her name is Drew and she is the biggest jerk here. She-" He begins to rant but sighs and exhales. "Just please don't befriend her... she won't treat you the same what-so-ever."

"But Lacey, there," He points out a small girl with silky blonde hair that is wrapped up in two buns. She giggles happily, swishing a red cup around in her hand. "She's good. Just make sure what ever you do don't get tangled up with Drew. And I guess Piper is good, too. She's the cabin's head counselor but she isn't there much. She hangs out with Jason a lot." Clovis says but doesn't explain further.

"They're all Aphrodite kids?" I ask.

"Yea," He sighs. I can't help but smile. I actually remembered something someone was telling me earlier.

"Hey, hey hey! Who's this fine looking young lady beside you, Clovis?" says a boy. His dark chocolate hair curled wildly every which way and his eyes shimmered with curiosity.

"Avery, this is Leo, son of Hephaestus. Leo this is Avery, the new camper," Clovis introduces. Leo smirks, his lips curving up mischievously. Leo held out his hand and I shook it. Suddenly he shot his hands up, his fingers curling into 'hand guns.'

"Bang, bang," He smiles. His finger was nearly two inches away from my mouth. He hadn't moved it so I figured he was waiting for me to react. Yeah, if you haven't learned by now I am not good at making decisions. Especially on short notices. So what do I do other than clamp my teeth down on his right fingers.

Leo looks up at me with confusion before registering the pain. He yelps and draws his hand back. For a second I felt bad but before I could say sorry, he smirked and threw his hands back up.

"Ares," he says. "You are definitely an Ares kid. Feisty," He says nodding his head. Before I could respond Leo was off, standing on a table shouting about bets, money, and Ares.

"What?" I finally ask. Clovis shrugs.

"I don't know, I was going to ask you the same thing."

"Are they betting on which godly parent is going to claim me?" I ask, the sudden realization washing over me.

"Yea probably, but don't worry too much about it. For now, let's just make you some friends, ok?" He states.

"Well... alright." I agree.

~*~*~

There was no sign of my godly parent as the night wore on. In all honesty I was nervous. What happens if they didn't want to claim me? What happens if I wasn't even a demi-god and that I was a hoax. I would surely be shamed and kicked out. My heart beat began to thunder in my chest as a tapped my fingers rapidly on the log.

By now, Leo had gotten the Ares kids on board. Money was gently piled up beside him, but even more candy was piled on the side. Leo licks his lips greedily. Many people bustled around in excitement and I had my fair share of meeting. Nearly everyone wanted to meet me. Apparently the age of twelve

"No way! She is gonna' be a Dionysus kid, I can feel it in my pancreas."

"Your what?" Another kid screeches. It was all a little bit overwhelming as another betting booth had been set up.

"Hecate. I mean she kind of acts like Lou Ellen as far as we know. And I am both dreading it and excited for it." Another booth and more candy piled up. A few socks were now getting thrown in too. I was guessing that people's candy stashes were running out by now.

I was getting antsy as the kids began losing interest it me, which was fine, but I needed something to do.

I glanced over at Clovis who was slumped over, his chin resting in his palm. He was beginning to nod off which baffled me since we were smack dab in the center of a giant fire and a party. How in the world?

"Want some punch?" I ask in an attempt to relieve my unease and keep him awake.

Clovis sniffles before softly saying 'yes.' I happily got up, finding my way through the crowd to the punch table. I fill one cup and put it to the side, and began filling the next. Suddenly a girls hand snatches the cup from the table. I turn to look angrily before I realize it was the one and only Drew.

She stares me down as she gulps it down.

"Thanks," Drew says, a sly smirk plastered on her face. I smile back at her, but in my head I was screaming internally.

"No problem, I guess, but that was for a friend." I mumble. I was actually trying to behave myself for once.

"Aren't I a friend?" she asks me innocently.

"No." I say flatly. She frowns quickly, her eyes narrowing and her brown eyes flashing with anger. 

"Why not? You're a pretty cool girl and I am obviously better. With you and I being friends, we could literally rule this camp."

"Clovis warned me about you and I gotta say, he is right. You are one mean cheeto," I sigh, turning around to fill a new cup.

"That's your friend? The wimpy blonde kid? All he does is sleep! He probably doesn't even realize what's going on. Isn't it a big hint that you have to get him his own cup? Pathetic," she groans, getting impatient. A small group of kids had slowly gathered around, most likely eavesdropping. They were smiling and giggling softly as they talk among themselves.

"He may be a wimp, but I offered. And he's a good friend and doesn't pressure you to do stupid shit. He's my friend not yours." I begin to grow angry even though I know I should keep a level head.

"Did you copy that from a movie or something?" Drew rolls her eyes. "Gods, you're so cliche. Let me guess, now you're going to cry and run off to him. News flash honey, this is reality get used to it." I smile grimly.

"What happened to the 'you're so cool, I am going to worship you,' vibe? I liked that one better," I reply.

"I never said I would worship you, I-"

"True. You said you'd let me rule the camp." I try.

"Sure, kid. You can dream. Have fun with that worthless blondie. Just remember your place in the camp and you'll do fine." She frowns and begins to walk away, her chin up and her high dark ponytail swishing.

I was seething. I glance down to the newly filled cup of punch. This was definitely not a coincidence.

"The trouble-maker, right Drew? That's my place?" I yell. Drew turns on her heels, literally.

"What?" She asks, her brow raising. Don't do it. I shrugged. Since when do I listen to my inner logic? I step forward and flung the punch at her. She gasps and shrieks at her red stained white blouse and pink skirt. I smirk happily. My aim was perfect- which usually doesn't happen.

"You ruthless brat! It's no wonder your godly parent hasn't claimed you! They don't want to! You're absolutely stupid! These are designer!" She screams. She begins to step forward, her fists clenched and her neatly painted nails digging into her palms. I think it's safe to say the whole camp was now looking at us silent and confused. In the distance I could hear a faint, 'I am switching mine to Ares.'

Clovis suddenly appears behind me, his hand on my shoulder attempting to pull me away. Yea, no way buddy.

"Avery, stop," Clovis says softly, he could see me physically tensing.

"You don't belong here! How old are you? Fifteen? Sixteen? You were supposed to be here at twelve! Don't you see that you're a hoax! You're a fake, maybe you're a monster, designed to kill us! Go home!" She hisses. "Go home and cry, baby!" She turned to walk away.. almost. I launch myself froward, swinging my arm. Can you get kicked out of this camp? Part of my wonders this a split second before my knuckle makes contact with her jaw. She hits the ground, hard. The whole camp gasps and stands still. Then a few bustle forward to aid her.

"If I am the monster, what does that make you? A baby, too?" I ask lowly. I shook my hand slightly. Damn, that hurt.

"Ares! I told you guys! It's been awhile since we had an Ares, and here we are!" Leo had made his way through the crowd to the front row, smirking happily. The faint sound of clomping hooves echos in the distance but it's quickly replaced by a blinding light.

I blink a few times as well as hiccup before I can see again. The camper's faces had a soft golden glow as they looked directly above my head. I glance up to see what they were looking at.

A soft golden harp was hovering over my head and I could hear soft music radiating from it. Just as quickly as it came it vanishes.

I smile and jump excitedly. I turn to Clovis who was wide eyed.

"W-Wait, who is my mom! Or dad, you know? Who is that?" I ask rapidly. Every inch of my body felt newly energized and I felt truly alive for once.

"Welcome, Avery Ace, daughter of Apollo." A new voice says. I turn to it's source to see a tall man, his arms folded gently in front of him. Well... he wasn't all man... more of half horse half man? I was taken aback at first and for once, I was speechless.

"T-Thank you," I stutter. Most people clap and cheer, but more than half groan sadly as they had lost their money, candy, and socks.

"You will be taken to your cabin and be explained everything soon, but first I need to speak with you." He says, his soft smile fading lightly. My gut turns anxiously.

"Okay," I mumble. He turns and begins to walk. I follow him, only looking back once to see Will, Clovis, and a few others smiling happily and waving.

Once we're out of prying eyes and curious ears, he begins to talk.

"Do you know why you're with me?" He asks.

"I have a main reason... yea, but I am sure there is more." I say. He nods.

"Yes, first of all we will discuss your first punishment for punching another camper, then we will talk rules as well as your age." He explains. I cringe slightly but nod. "You know who I am?"

"Chiron, right? Kind of like the director of this camp?" I ask.

"Correct, Avery." He says and begins my punishment.

~*~

It was an hour before I was walked back to my gleaming cabin. The cabin seemed to glow soflty even in the dark night. Chiron bids me a goodnight and I walk in.

The cabin smells so differently from the Hypnos Cabin. It smells... clean. Almost like a doctors office but more pleasant. I could also smell various herbs, which line the left wall, and dried sage. I was slightly surprised with myself that I knew the smell. Three bunk beds line the walls and three normal beds neatly beside them. In the far right corner several cots are set up as well as cabinets. It almost looked like a kitchen but it was arranged neatly with linens, wraps, Q-tips, and more. I was guessing that was the medical part of the cabin.

Rather than the gleaming outside, the walls had a simple off-white color, with dark wood beams. It looked like a regular cabin to my surprise. The only really popping things were the beds which had golden or yellow sheets and potted flowers and plants. Many were bright, vibrant colors, others still blooming.

"I would have never thought you would be an Apollo kid, but I am certainly glad you are!" Will says happily. He steps forward and gives me a warm hug, which I gladly return. When he releases me he turns, and holds out his arm. Behind him are three kids, all around the same age.

"This is Arthur," Will says, pointing the the first boy in line. He had strawberry blonde hair and vibrant green eyes, much like mine. He had round thin rimmed glasses and a fashionable yellow long sleeve shirt that said, 'Probably Sunshine.' He reminded me of a living breathing aesthetic boy. Arthur smiles warmly and waves. "Arthur is the third oldest now that you're here. He just turned fourteen a month and four days ago."

"Lily," he says next. The middle girl steps out. She has caramel blonde hair that was neatly braided in a tight dutch braid. Her curious brown eyes shimmer as she waves enthusiastically. "She is the fourth oldest and she is thirteen."

"And last, but not least, Brianna, or Bri for short. The youngest in the cabin," Will finishes. The girl had long straight hair that was loosely tied in a ponytail. Her soft pink dress swayed around her as she fiddled happily with her hands.

"I am Avery Ace." I greet they all reply with eager 'hello's.'

"There are two more campers Kayla and Austin but they're currently out of camp and probably won't be returning too soon. They're off doing some important things. However I was able to contact them and inform them. They say hello and welcome," he explains.

"Wait how? There is no phones here?" I conclude. Will sighs.

"Yea... that's a whole other conversation. I will tell you later." he says. "But for now, pick a bunk or a regular bed and I will begin explaining some things."

 

~*~

It was nearly another hour before I had been given Camp Half-Blood shirts, a few new shorts, and other basic necessities. I had chosen a regular bed for the sake of my clumsiness, though I was sad that I had to give up a bottom bunk. Do you know how many forts I could have made?

Will finally agreed that it was lights out for the three campers and that Will and I were to talk. We sit together on ny new bed, its soft satin blankets rubbing against my legs.

"Are you aware that demi-gods have abilities and powers much like their godly parent?" Will asks.

"No." I reply. Suddenly I realize what he is saying and gasp, shaking my arms excitably. Will smiles warmly as if he has seen this reaction hundreds of tomes but never once gets old of witnessing it. "I can do magic do-hickey stuff?"

"Yea, a little bit but with you just figuring out who you are and all your powers are probably still growing and processing. First things first, all Apollo kids are talented at archery or some type of aiming situation. Have you ever noticed that about yourself?" He asks. My happiness fades slightly and it doesn't go unnoticed by Will.

"I have only ever shot a bow once or twice. My step dad thought I was cheating or something and stuff." I mumble. I shake my head quickly before it can go to dark places. "Anyways, what else?"

"Well, we can hum or sing an ancient tune, which I will teach you later, to heal people. If you get really good at it you can chant it in tour head rather than verbalize it." He explains. I would be most likely using that on myself if I keep up my punching Drew attitude. "We can also curse people to chant poetry, rhyming couplets, or lyrics for a specific amount of time although it's frowned upon."

"Wait.. So you're telling me that I can make people repeat Justin Beiber songs for weeks?" I ask, the devilish side of me gnawing at my tired brain.

"I mean I guess, if you want." Will shrugs, slight concern in his tone.

"Sweet."

"And of course, we are all talented in the arts. So singing, dancing, playing instruments- that sort of thing. Physical contests and games also come easier to us." Will explains. "There is a lot to an Apollo kid. Most are perks, others maybe not so much."

"Well what's the bad stuff?" I ask, bringing my knees to my chin. Will sighs, his shoulders rising carefully.

"Some days, mostly it's random, our dad will casually blast some tunes that only his kids can hear. It's always at the butt crack of dawn and most people wonder why we are up and walking around and on edge but it's just him. Last month he blasted 'Never Going to Give You Up,' until we sung along. That's about as bad as that part gets."

"Doesn't seem so bad," I say. "At least they're good songs though, right?"

"Yea, I guess. If it's not modern or at least a bit known its Disney music. We can't help it- literally."

"That is not a problem with me." I smile. I hadn't watched too many Disney movies- only the ones Mom brought home from the video store.

"It is when he plays Frozen on repeat for the whole day." He grumbles as if remembering the painful experience.

"Yikes, never mind." I chuckle.

"Most of us are also sucky liars. Dad is also sort of the god of honesty but not really at the same time. We just can't do it very well without being sniffed out." Will says. "Another con is that some of us can see déjà vu kind of visions. Most of the time when that happens something really bad is going to happen and Dad himself is trying to warn us. It's only happened once." Willis eyes became glossy before he exhales and smiled warmly again.

"You better get to sleep now, I have kept you up way too long. You never know if Dad will want to celebrate by playing Fall Out Boy or something right away in the morning." He squeezes my shoulder reassuringly before I slip under the covers.

"Goodnight, Avery. And welcome to the family." He whispers.


	4. Fireflies, or Something Like That

I was not awoken by Fall Out Boy the next morning. Instead, it was the Imperial March song from Star Wars, oddly enough.

I jumped and shrieked, falling out of bed and landing hard on the ground.

My sidings were dazed, tired, and highly confused as to why he had picked that song out of the millions out there. But nonetheless all five of us were up at the butt crack of dawn, just as Will had told me. 

I stood up unhappily and uneasy on my feet. I met Will's eyes and he sighs, raising his eyebrows as if to say, 'told you.'

Eventually the loud Star Wars March song had begun to fade until it was nothing but a slight ringing in my ear.

"That was hell." I groan.

"Hades." Arthur corrects politely, yawing. I mumble a quick sorry and lay my head down on my cushioned bed.

"Better start getting ready, breakfast starts in about two hours but as head counselor I can begin early training or something." Will says groggily. I nod my head even though I was 99% sure I wouldn't be able to function.

I slipped on a pair of denim shorts and a new bright orange camp shirt. I braided my hair neatly to the side to keep it out of my face and joined Will at the back infirmity area to begin my first lesson even though I didn't have to start for another three or four hours.

^|*|*|*|^

"What do you not do with ambrosia and nectar?" Will asks.

"Over feed it or over eat it. Otherwise you go boom," I repeat. Breakfast hour had begun nearly ten minutes ago and my stomach was attempting to make whale mating calls. I think it's safe to say I am hungry.

"And what herb can settle stomach aches or cramps?" Will quizzes once again. I groan, matching my stomachs angry whines.

"Mint and rosebud," I recite. "Will, I am starving. Please let me eat or I am going to eat the closest thing to me which happens to be my own hand." Will raises his eyebrows and sighs but says nothing further.

"That was a good first run through. You're a natural healer, as you should be with Apollo being our Dad and all." Will compliments. "Now go and eat. Make sure to sit at the table with a small sun symbol on it, okay? It's the Apollo table ans we aren't really supposed to mingle with other campers just yet."

-

I plop my plate full of oatmeal, apple juice, and a Pop-Tart down on the Hynos's Table, startling a sleepy Clovis. He gave me an odd look as I sat down but said nothing more.

"Good mornin', Cwovis." I greet with my mouth full of food. Clovis scrunches his noise slightly but doesn't say anything. I swallow quickly and take a sip of my apple juice before he begins to speak.

"So, how do you like being apart of the Apollo Crew?" He asks. I shrug.

"I mean it's cool so far. I mean, we all like kind of the same things: Disney, singing, dancing, the sun, bright stuff." I say. "But getting up at the ass-crack of dawn with Star Wars music blasting in your head is not very pleasant." Clovis's face immediately turns confused and I shook my head. I guess it was hard to explain that your Dad celebrates by making you miserable in the morning. A parry of me, however, felt special. A Dad I have never known, a god, claimed me, was excited to accept me. It gave reassurance that he was really out there and was always really there.

"As for punching Drew, I can't have dessert for two weeks." I sigh sadly. Clovis nods as if it was nothing new to experience.

"So what classes and lessons do you have throughout the day?" Clovis asks, yawning and nibbling on his left over Raisin Bran.

"Well, Will says I have Greek first but I don't know why. I have dyslexia so if I can't read regular English how in the world can I read a foreign language?" I mumble.

"Everyone here has dyslexia, Avery. Demi-gods' brains are hard wired to read Greek so our brains mix around regular words in attempt to find the Greek symbols, even if there are none to be found." Clovis explains. I exhale, a sense of relief washing over me.

"Do you have some form of ADHD, been kicked out of many schools, or saw things you can't exactly understand? Those, my friend, are the most common signs that you are a demi-god. ADHD is designed to keep you alert and highly aware of your surroundings and light on your feet when dealing with monsters or battle." Clovis says, seeming to wake up more with a little excitement. I wondered if he was remembering what it was like when he had first came here.

"The only thing that doesn't one-hundred percent match up is the school part. Yes, I was kicked out of two schools, but after that I was homeschooled a bit from my mother and the cleaning ladies. As you can probably imagine, I am not the smartest kid on the block." I say sheepishly. A trickle of embarrassment rushes to my head but I dismiss it when I took a hefty spoonful of oatmeal to my mouth.

"Anyway, after Greek is fighting, then herb or plant stuff for natural healing. I guess most Apollo kids have to take it. After that of course is lunch, free time, then back to healing lessons with Will. He says I have a lot of potential." I finish.

"I can see where he gets that idea." Clovis says quietly. I sat silent for a second, stunned by his words. Clovis acts as if nothing odd was said and I mentally smack myself for thinking what he said was special in any way. Maybe I would make friends easier than I thought.

"I better get going, I guess. Gotta learn some Greek stuff." I say. Clovis waves a small good by and I scramble off to the meeting spot for Greek lessons.

-

Greek lessons seemed to drone on as one of the Athena kids attended to teach me the ancient language. Surprisingly enough, I caught on quickly. The words on the page hadn't been floating off and rearranging themselves, instead the sat still and my brain somehow knew the symbols.

Next, however, was training from Pollux. I had seen Pollux walking around the camp earlier. I later learned he was a Dioyonus kid. Pollux had curly blonde hair and soft violet eyes, which was odd but I decided it was the least odd that I had seen today. He was plump yet balanced with his moves and walking. It would no surprise me if he was a excelled warrior, he just had the aura of it.

"First, we're going to fit you with a weapon. A sword, or dagger, and a bow." he says. "Most kids don't carry around bows but you being an Apollo kid is an exception." Pollux tosses me a larger sword, I squeal and dodge it. Pollux sighs and shakes his head.

"You're supposed to catch that," he says.

"Catch a sharp, heavy, long, rusty sword? Yea, no I didn't get my tetanus shot." I hiss.

"Touche," he responds. I pick the rough sword from its spot on the ground. It feels odd and uneven in my hands as I struggle to find a good angle to hold it at. Pollux studies my stance before shaking his head. "Nope," he says and switches out the sword with a shorter, thinner sword. Though it's still unbalanced in my hand, it feels much better than the weighty sword.

Pollux again shakes his head before turning around and looking over the set of weapons laid out across the table. Carefully, he pulls a thin bronze colored dagger. Pollux hands it to me gently. The blade feels different, but not unbalanced or uncomfortable in my clammy hands. I toss it gently between my hands.

"That's the one," Pollux smiles, satisfied with himself. "Now we're going to start with fighting. By Friday, you will be ready for Capture the Flag."

"You guys play Capture the Flag here?" I ask, excitement building in me.

"Of a sort... yeah. Chiron will repeat and explain the rules further on Friday." Pollux says happily. With that, he picks up another sword- longer and heavier than mine. "Let's begin."

-

An hour and a half later I am covered I am covered in bruises and littered with small scratches. My shoulders and arms are aching and I could seriously go for a massage right now.

I pant as Pollux repeats the same straight forward stab that I have been practicing. I bring my dagger up and block it for what seems like the hundredth time. Maybe it was, I wasn't really sure.

"Alright, that's enough for today. You've certainly got spunk, Avery. Keep it up and you might be in my position someday. You'll be a good addition to the team, that is if you join us against the Hecate Cabin and their allies." Pollux says, unstrapping his velcro gloves.

"Yea, sounds good," I say quickly. It felt good to be recognized for something positive for once, even if it was for kicking ass.

I sheath my new dagger and begin heading to my next lesson. Herbs and plants with the Demeter Cabin.

Nearly twenty minutes had gone by and to my surprise, once again I wasn't half bad at memorizing what plants and herbs do what for basic injuries and what things not to stick in your mouth unless you want endless pain or something like that.

"Kingsin is poisonous, yes I know." I groan to Miranda. She was my teacher for the next few weeks. She was kind but held high expectations.

"Correct. Where do you find it?" She asks, a small smile growing across her face.

"Along the riverside or in fields with tall grasses. They feed off of water or other plants with nutrients." I say my voice going flat. Miranda nods.

"Where in the camp can you find them?" She asks again.

"In the outer field, past the strawberries where fireflies and Nymph-fairies live. They like to grow by fungus that look similar to them too." I was going to scrape my eyeballs out with a spork if this lasted any longer. Miranda nods and sighs, deciding it was enough for today. A faint horn blew and I rush off to the pavilion.

Alfred noodles and broccoli lay warm, fresh, and extremely delicious in front of me. I dug in quickly, wolfing down the scrumptious food. Will was not at the Apollo table but Arthur, Lily, and Bri.

"How is your day going so far?" Arthur asks, gently nudging at his fried chicken. Lily and Bri scoot forward slightly, excitement gnawing at them.

"I mean pretty good besides the abrupt awakening. I even got my own dagger thingy." I say happily, flinging it out. Arthur jumps back wide eyed. He takes a break before tipping the blade tip away from him. I sheath it quickly.

"Well that's good," Arthur says, taking a big bite of peas. "The rest of the day will fly by." Bri nods her head rapidly, her bright eyes shimmering.

Arthur hadn't been kidding that the rest of the day would fly by. After lunch my lessons and training flew by but left me a bit tired- especially the healing. I had to learn an ancient song to summon any sort of healing. I stumbled on the words often and mis-prounounced several words, causing a small tingling feeling to ripple through my arms and fingers.

I walk down through the cabins, quickly spotting the plain log cabin. The Hypnos Cabin. I knock carefully on the door hoping that my only friend outside of cabin was looking for company. There was a thud and a string of curse words before the door swung open.

A very tired and angry looking Clovis. He sighs, his face immediately relaxing as he visibly slumps. I rock on the balls of my feet and nibble on my chapped lips.

"Sorry... I thought you were someone else," Clovis sighs and trails off.

"Nope, just Avery. You busy?" I ask. Clovis blinks a few times to adjust to the setting sun's light. Clovis opens the door further, inviting me into the darkened cabin. I walk in curiously, craning my head around a corner. Clovis gestures to the corner of beds that lined the wall.

"My brother and sister, Mouse and Debbie." He says. I strain my eyes to see anything in the dark of the cabin. I decide if he thought there were children over there buried in blankets and darkness- then there was. I trot quickly over to the taller bunk beds and clamber up to the top bunk which hadn't changed from when I had last sprawled out on it.

I sit silently, which is an extremely rare occurrence with me. I wait for my eyes to adjust to the darkness of the cabin. Even after what seems like and hour nothing changes. It's just so... dark. Where was the light? Where was the sun? Did they even have a night light? In all honesty they should because for how clumsy these kids are, without a light they may as well break every bone in their body tripping over clothes and other odds and ends on the floor.

"Hello? Earth to Avery? If you want to sleep do it but give me a warning first. You're kind of scary when you're silent." Clovis mumbles.

"Why is it so dark in here?" I snap back to reality.

"Well.. it's not that dark. I guess it takes some getting used to but not much sun light or light in general comes through here so we can sleep better and longer. Many other campers come in here to sleep or relax too. Of they wanted sunlight they'll just go outside or stop by the Apollo Cabin." Clovis explains. He moves towards the only small light source in the cabin- a mini-lamp. He begins to touch it as if he's going to turn it off.

"Don't you dare turn off that light." I threaten, pointing an angry finger at him. Clovis looks confused as he sets the lamp down again. 

"Are you afraid of the dark?" Clovis chuckles. I flip him off.

"No." I hiss. I was truly not afraid of the dark. I was afraid of what was in it. Maybe the boogy-man was hiding in Clovis's closet. It wouldn't surprise me since this cabin was so messy.

"Avery, is everything okay?" Clovis asks, his smile fading into a frown of concern. I exhale slowly. 

"Deep down, Clovis..." I pause, biting my lip before deciding my stupid idea was at least an idea. "My sock is falling off in my shoe." I whine and make an ugly crying noise as I throw myself off the edge of the bed, only dangling because of my monster thigh grip on the top 'guard rail.' Nearly an hour of talking like this was sure to fry some brain cells like chicken.

"Hey Clovis," I sigh after our fifth laughing fit of the night.

"Yeap?" He responds. We were laying side by side on the floor, looking up at the dark ceiling that had tiny little stickers of Power Rangers, Mickey Mouse, and Cars.

"I was diagnosed with insomnia at the age of thirteen. I didn't bring my Melatonin pills." I say. "I mean the other day I fell asleep okay but that was after I was worked to the bone." 

"Now you tell me!? Gods, Avery! Could've solved this days ago," he groans and hoists himself up. Clovis continues mumbling to himself and I catch a few words such as 'hyper,' 'child,' and 'sleep.' It was another minute before he came around the corner with a deep rouge colored vile. It smelled odd, even from here, but not uninviting.

"Drink it," Clovis urges, giving me a happy, sleep-deprived smile. I sigh before deciding if he wanted me poisoned he would've done it long ago. I gulp it down and it slides easily down my throat.

A few minutes passed by. Clovis looked at the clock then back at me constantly, each time his smile fading further. After another ten minutes I decide to speak up. Clovis throws his head back and lays on his back. He lets out a soft, but frustrated, groan.

"So what did I drink?" I ask.

"I like to call it, 'Go the Hades to Sleep'. It's the powerful stuff." he groans.

"And is it working?" I try again even though I think I know the answer he was dreading.

"No... it's not." Clovis sighs. "I have never heard of an Apollo Child having insomnia or sleeping issues of any kind until you. I guess there is a first for everything." he mumbles. "Maybe it takes longer to work through your body?" He looks defeated as he lays sprawled out on the soft blue rug. I stand up and hang myself over him, draping my arms beside his head.

"Come on, let's go." I smile, picking at his cheeks and jaw with my hands. He bats my hands away in confusion.

"What? Where? Avery it's probably curfew in a few minutes. Honestly, you should get back to your cabin before Will kills me." He gulps.

"Then we'll make this quick, come on. Outside," I dart off of him. Clovis groans and scrambles up off of me. "Trust me?" I ask as I open the creaky door of the cabin. We had just missed the sunset which made me a little sad but I could deal with that.

"No, I do not trust you but I am still following you. I don't know what that says about me," Clovis grumbles. I roll my eyes and lace my fingers in his as I drag him away.

"Avery, I dont think this is a great idea," he whispers hoarsly as we turn a corner avoiding a group of campers. I look back at him and smirk.

"No, its not a great idea, it's a fantastic idea!" I beam. My mind however, kept thinking about Clovis as we dashed through the cabins and out in the the open. Clovis had simply trusted me. Verbally, not so much but he hadn't dragged me back screaming and kicking over his shoulder, yet. Maybe he wanted a little excitement in his life. Finally we reach the edge of the forest where Clovis digs his feet in, yanking ne right back to him.

"Avery, no. We can't go in there past curfew. We are actually forbidden at all to go in there unless it's Capture the Flag." He says. Immediately I feel crest fallen. I wanted to take him further into the forest to climb the trees and see the stars... Or the hard-to-find fireflies that live high above in the shaded tree tops.

"But... The fireflies and stuff.." I mumble unhappily. Realization washes over Clovis and he rolls his eyes.

"Only one person has actually seen the 'fireflies' you speak of and he came back with a billion scratches and bruises." He states. "I will take you somewhere a little safer, but only for a tiny bit, okay? We are already about twenty minutes past curfew and I am a head counselor! Just follow me," Clovis says and he grabs my hand, pulling ne in the opposite direction.

Clovis came to a stop not too far past the training grounds overlooking a meadow. In the dark sky the tall grass seemed black- like a silohtte but with no sun to shine and create the long shadows. Stars had begun to peak out from the darkness, creating hundred of small constellations. I smile, this was safer and probably better than I woukd have led us to.

"Watch this," he whispers, releasing my hand as he steps forward slowly and carefully, his arms raises above his waist as if he was wading through water.

Every small step he took sent tiny fireflies to float around him, creating a sea of flickering lights.

For once in my whole life I was speechless at this beauty. I quickly run in after Clovis, creating my own light show. Clovis beams with joy and pride and I wondered how long it had been since he really truly smiled because of something so simple.

After a few minutes of trotting around I laid back carefully, flattening the tall grass around me. Clovis joins me, tucking his hands behind his head and crossing his legs loosely.

"You know, I really enjoy your company, Avery. You just kinda energize me, give me a purpose to do things, or look forward to doing something. Gods its only been two days but I feel like it has been months." Clovis chuckles. I yawn, a sudden exhaustion rippling through me as I too, roll to my back. Part of me wondered if the insomnia stuff was just now kicking in. "Is that odd to say?" Clovis murmurs.

"I don't think anything is odd to say if you truly believe in whatever you are talking about." I reply. Clovis sighs in relief and continues talking. Something about a girl, crushes, friends, time, blah blah blah. It was all a blur in my hearing but i liked the way he talked about it. I like the way he talks and how he sounds in general I guess.

I heard his voice but not so much his words. Worked like a lullaby if you ask me.


	5. Chapter 5: Lone Gremlin

Bread sticks and pickles. No honeysuckle, it's definitely honeysuckle. That was my first thought when I had began to wake up in the familiar Hypnos Cabin. I roll to my side and realize that if I have waken up at the ass crack of dawn, which is now a regular occurrence, I had not waken up to music blasting in my ears. I hear soft breathing beside me and decide that if I can ever get the chance to sleep, and sleep well- I would take it. With that I gratefully pass out once again.

The next time I crack open my crusty eyes, I hear familiar voices. The warmth that had been there before was gone, and I groan unhappily.

"We were looking for her," Will's familiar voice says. I peek my eyes open, a spark of panic sets in. I didn't mean to fall asleep. I meant to come straight back to the Apollo Cabin as soon as I was done visiting Clovis. I flop on my stomach, crushing my chest and face. I groan before I realize I had no reason besides the smashing of my face to groan.

"I know, but she didn't want to go to the cabin yet, and she ended up staying here," Clovis whispered softly. My focusing ability was being like my chest at this moment... non existent. I kept hearing half of conversations and had an unpleasant time attempting to stay awake- that's never happened.

"Insomnia, Will! Insomnia! How the Hades does an Apollo child have insomnia." Clovis hisses. "If I would have known that I would've snuffed her or something much earlier." There was a pause and a sharp mumble before Clovis spoke again. "Not really, she's just very talkative... and hyper. The complete opposite of a Hypnos kid."

"A child of Apollo, having insomnia you said? Or just a little trouble sleeping?" Will asks. I heard shuffling and more words being exchanged. Slowly I sat up rubbing my eyes. All voices stop and I feel uncomfortable immediately.

"Avery? You alive?" Clovis teases, waving his hand slowly in front of me. I nod slowly and begin to crawl out of bed, stretching like an old dog before flopping backwards.

"I'll get her stuff." Clovis sighs and begins gathering my shoes and sock. Yea that's right sock. I have no idea where the other one could be lodged. Maybe a green haired monster under the bed took it.

"Did you give her the insomnia juice?" Will asks, ushering me up and helping me slip on my pale yellow converse. Off-brand converse, mind you. I refuse to pay fifty dollars for a pair of shoes. Actually.... I refuse to pay anything for shoes, I would rather run around like a barefoot heathen.

"Yup. Didn't even phase her until ahh... the field." Clovis says almost like he was hesitating to give away the field. "Then she just conked out. Didn't move or anything- I even dropped her on the cement once. On accident," He says glancing to me. I narrow my eyes at him finally realizing where a dinosaur shaped bruise on my knee had come from. Will exhales and nibbles this inside of his cheek. His sky blue eyes were cloudy with concentration, for a minute I was afraid. Why would he be so concerned about that? Maybe I have a high tolerance? Will quickly snaps out of it.

"Here you go, Avery." Will smiles before handing me an orange T-shirt. "It's a spare Camp Half-Blood shirt. Most campers wear it just cause it's provided and all. Meet me in the pavilion when you're done changing." Will says as he walks out the door and into the sunny outside.

"Right... okay... so how did I get here last night?" I turn and ask Clovis. Clovis gave me a sheepish smile and cracks his knuckles.

"I carried you back," He says.

"You dropped me." I say, but it's not anger- it's more amusement.

"Well, yea, that was an accident. There was a harpy and I turned the corner to quick and your weight was uneven and-" Clovis scrambles.

"I know I am heavy, it's ok. And I was out cold, that was dead weight you were carrying." I scoff and tie my shoelaces. "Did you try waking me up?

"No, not really. I assumed that you having insomnia and all, that if I woke you up you wouldn't sleep again. Get the sleep when you can, am I right?" Clovis jokes. I nod and shrug my shoulders, I couldn't help but blush and feel slightly embarrassed.

"Come on, now. Get dressed. We have work to do today and I don't feel like being shish-kebobbed by your brother today." Clovis says as he hands my my small shoulder bag. He then pulls a light brown bed sheet from the bed and pins it between the beds. A divider. How un-fun.

"You probably don't want me looking," Clovis chuckles and turns his head. I could feel the blush radiating off of him even though I couldn't even see his face. I muffle a laugh. The small light that filtered through the curtains casts a shadow over the makeshift curtain- meaning I could see exactly what Clovis was doing and Clovis could see exactly what I was doing. I shrug and sigh, knowing there was no reason to share if I couldn't see the details.

I look away and snatch up my shorts and slip them on quickly. There my old pair of dark denim shorts, high waisted and triple buttoned. Stylish in a sense. I glance back to see his arms fly up to slip his shirt over his head. I shook my head in return and pull my shirt off as well. I stuff my dirty clothes in my bag, slip on a new bra, and nearly choked when I saw the plain orange shirt Will has requested I wore. It was fine, besides the fact that it was two sizes to big from my regular medium size. I scoff, I could do a nice off the side 'it was meant to big this big' sort of thing, but I was not that motivated. Or that aesthetic-y (yet.)

I look back at the shadow to see now that the lean, but not fit, figure was stretching and pacing slowly. I walk to the divider and shove it aside.

"Clovis, do you have any scissors?" I ask. I was fully aware I did not have a shirt on. And I was also fully aware that it's almost the same thing I wear to bed and to swim- big deal. My navy blue and yellow laced bra seemed to startle him

"Avery. Shirt!" Clovis yelps and his hands fly to his beat red face. He also whips his whole body around for good measure. I roll my eyes. I really just want chicken nuggets and scissors, how hard can this be?

"Clovis. Scissors!" I mock. He quickly points to a very small work station with several packets of golden glitter, crayons, and paper. I skip over, swinging my shirt joyfully in my hands. I quickly snip around the sleeves, making it a sleeveless shirt. I also do a good measure of snipping around the bottom, so it was shorter. A little savage and primitive looking, but it was at least a little bit smaller to fit me.

"Done," I say and I throw my newly ruined shirt over my head happily. I began walking to Clovis while throwing my hair up in a low ponytail. I was sure that my hair was still a mess with pieces of hair sticking about.

Clovis gave me a confused look before speaking again. "You just walked out here with no shirt on, completely unfazed that I saw you with a shirt on," Clovis blunders. "You have no shame." He mutters after.

"I do it all the time and it's just a bra, another article of clothing. I really don't care who sees me like this. If people haven't by the end of this year, they're lucky." I say, and sling my shoulder bag over my torso. I walk out the door with a new skip in me as the sun hits my skin, warming me to the bone. It was a new kind of comfort. I twirled around like a little kid because I practically was. For the first time since my mom passed away, I felt free, a weight lifted from my shoulders. No angry step father telling me to grow up, do chores, be harassed by his pig headed friends. I stopped twirling because I felt like throwing up (but in a good way.) I ended up facing Clovis, who was smiling softly with his hands in his pockets sheepishly.

"Come on, Avery, breakfast." Clovis says, and begins walking. As if on cue, I smelled bacon and eggs and began a dead run right towards the dinner pavilion.

_-_-_-_

"And then there were fireflies or.. I guess... fairies? Nymphs? Sorry I am new to this, anyway, it just looked like this giant sea of glowing little lights. It was so cool," I ramble while occasionally stuffing my face with scrambled eggs and decaf coffee Will had gotten me.

Bri, the youngest, leans forward, clinging on to my every word. Arthur and Lily both smile and listen in as well. Will looks both happy and skeptical.

"Avery... when I said find a friend and stick to that friend I didn't mean get attached to quickly and bother him-" Will suggests softly.

"Attached?" I ask, a piece of bacon falling out of my mouth.

"Well, I mean it's great that you found a friend, Clovis. He's a great guy, just... uh, take it easy, you know? There is lots of people here that would love to befriend you and all. Make sure to not overload him, too. He's a Hypnos kid, meaning when he crashes, he crashes. He needs his sleep, you know." Will chuckles and hands me a napkin.

"Oh, well yea. That makes sense." I shrug and glance up to Hypnos' table to see Clovis quietly chatting with two younger kids, and another boy who was wiggling his eyebrows. Clovis met my eyes and I quickly waved to him, giving him a big smile with an orange peel in my mouth covering my teeth.

A kid. I am an actual kid.

Chiron approaches an empty space in the Pavilion and we all quickly quiet down.

"So, as many of you know, Capture the Flag will be tomorrow, Friday night at six o' clock. It's the Hecate, Ares, and Aphrodite Cabin against the Hermes, Dionysus, and Apollo cabin. Other cabins, or individuals must register by tomorrow afternoon to join a team. Rules will be explained again before it starts. Enjoy your day!" Chiron finishes with a soft smile and a wave before he prances off to the Big House with an irritated looking Mr. D by his side.

"I can play Capture the Flag?" I ask quickly. Arthur nods his head as Will walks off to be with a raven haired boy- distracted.

"Yup, we're all in it besides Will and Bri. They're standing aside for injuries and such. So it's just you, me, and Lil'." Arthur explains. Bri pouts slightly but stays quiet.

"Yea. Arthur and I usually hang out in little hiding spots to scout or shoot the opposing team from high grounds." She smiles.

"Shoot? With arrows?" my jaw hangs open and I nearly drop my fork in my pudding. Lily's eyes widen and she shakes he hands in front of her.

"Yes! But it's not harmful! We never use real arrows. They're always dulled, have minor enchantments on them or are sticky arrows. Pretty much makes them stay in one place until we release them." She sighs. "Sorry, I forgot you were new to most of this." I nod my head and put my fork down. I was full already.

"What position do you think you want to play?" Arthur asks. I shrug.

"I kind of want to just run around and fight? Maybe find the flag?" I suggest. Arthur nods his head.

"I am sure Pollux would let you be a runner or defense. Probably ground defense. You just walk your area to make sure no one comes through and if they do, you take them down." Arthur gives me a thumbs up.

"I have to go, see you around." Arthur smiles and waves before Lily follows him, muttering a quick good-bye and running off after him. That left just me and Bri.

"Where do you get your clothes, Bri?" I ask, noticing her pretty lace dress and flip flops. She smiles and brushes off her dress as if it were her prized possession.

"Two places, sometimes satyrs bring new supplies of clothes every month or so, all different sizes. Or the Aphrodite kids make clothes. They're really good at it and actually sell the to other demi-gods and nymphs. If you want a good price, make sure to have good connections." Bri explains. I was shocked for a second before I snap out of it and nod my head.

"Sweet." I reply. She nods her head rapidly. A horn sounds from the Big House and Bri mutters a quick good-bye before practically prancing off to her next lesson.

That left me. Alone. For nearly the fourth time in the past few days. How can people not learn their lesson? I was a living, breathing, walking, messy, creature mostly known as a teenager. With ADHD and no impulse control. I fumble with my fingers awkwardly. I wasn't used to being left alone so quickly on a good note. I stood like an idiot, before shuffling over to dump my food into the fire like the rest of the kids.

\--

"You want some fruit snacks, Avery?" Bri asks from her top bunk bed. I am lying face down, my whole body aching from the insane training and overall exhaustion. I groan and in response, a fruit snack bag is thrown onto my back.

"Nice shot," I mumble.

"Well, duh." Bri says and I could almost see her rolling her eyes. I reluctantly roll over and open the crinkling silver bag. The fruit snacks were not normal- shapes of satyrs, eyes, owls, and other creatures and symbols where on them. The label had said some freaky flavors such as blue banana, goat fruit, and more. I pop one in my mouth and it sizzles oddly, melting in my mouth to what tasted like mangos and milk. I don't think that's what blue banana was supposed to taste like.

I reluctantly sit up and stand, walking to the bathroom and setting the odd fruit snacks back on Bri's bed. A shower would feel amazing right now.

\--

Nearly fifteen minutes later I was done and dressed in baggy 'MC Hammer' looking pants and pale yellow tank top. I once again flop down on my bed. It creaks, despite its fluffy feeling and softness. Will's bed is against the wall to the right of mine, only two or three feet away. Actually I didn't know, I was horrible at math.

"Are you still awake, Will?" I ask softly. Lily and Bri were fast asleep in their bunks with soft golden flickering lights hanging on the ceiling or beside them like a night light. I would have to ask Will later, when I had more energy, how to do it.

"Yea," Will says softly and quickly follows with a, "You okay?"

"Yea. It's just... I don't know." I mumble. Truthfully, I didn't know what I wanted to talk to Will about. I guess I just wanted to talk. It has been three days since I first arrived at the camp and discovered that I had four new half siblings and honestly, I didn't really know anything about them besides the basic stuff. I wanted to know more, I wanted to feel connected to them- like real siblings.

"You just want to talk?" He asks, propping himself up on one elbow to face me. The soft golden orbs cast dim shadows on his face, making his once blue eyes, vibrant.

"You read my mind." I sigh and nod. He chuckles.

"I am pretty good at reading people, most Apollo kids have some sense of it at least. I have a feeling you will latch onto the whole 'reading people' thing quickly. You're doing very well so far," Will comments.

"Thanks," I reply, a part of me relieved for the reassurance.

"Fire away, Avery." Will says.

"Favorite color?" I ask. Will ponders before nodding his head.

"Gold, yellow, and... Blue? I like a lot of colors. Sorry I am not too interesting in that area. All of the Apollo kids are drawn to golden or yellow things. It's just in our nature." Will explains. I was baffled, because I too was drawn do those colors, huh.

"Alright... How about nicknames? Have any nicknames?" Will asks.

"Uh, kind of? Just things like Ace, Acers, stuff like that." I reply, sucking in a breath.

"Got a girlfriend, boyfriend... Or creature-friend? I don't know if that's a normal thing to date a nymph or satyr or something." I ramble and Will laughs.

"No, it's not that normal to date a 'creature.' But I mean, if you want I guess go for it." Will finishes laughing. "And I do have a boyfriend- Nico di Angelo." He says softly, his eyes clouded over within seconds and he had a small smile on his face. Probably thinking of him.

"How many schools have you been to?" Will asks.

"One." I reply. Will sits up further, disbelief in his eyes. "It didn't last long though- I got kicked out." I shrug. This was embarrassing.

"Home schooled?" He asks.

"Yea." I reply.

"That would explain why satyrs couldn't locate you in the school system." Will exhales and lays on his back again.

"Is that a bad thing?" I ask quietly.

Will looks over at me, and his expression softens.

"You are here now, so no." He says. I give him a quick smile. "You and I should rest up, big day tomorrow- your first capture the flag."

"Oh yea," I mutter.

"Good night, Ace." Will smirks, testing out the new nickname.

"Good night, Solace." I reply and roll over, burrowing myself into the silky golden sheets of my bed in cabin seven.


	6. Chapter 6: Impaled Sunshine

I did not sleep well. I tossed and turned and when I finally fell asleep, I woke up stuck in my blankets and hanging half way off of the bed. I groan and wiggle myself out of the cocoon. Faintly, I could hear Build Me Up Buttercup playing in my head. I groan again and stand up to start my day. I could hear several blankets rustling and a few hums even.

"Hey, Avery." Bri says and I spin on my heel to meet her.

"Yes?" I reply. Bri practically is rocking on her feet, excitement bubbling through her. Her soft green eyes, like mine, shimmering happily.

"So, I am friends with some people in the Aphrodite cabin and I was able to get you some clothes." Bri explains. I was quiet for a moment, confused even, but I decided that asking how and why she got them would be a mess.

"Oh uh... Thanks, Bri." I smile and give her a soft pat on her back. She begins humming a tune and skips out of the cabin as if nothing had happened. I shrug and dig out the new clothes that were set aside.

Most were yellow, orange, or light colors in general. There were several jeans and shorts as well.  
There were even bras and and underwear in my size. Immediately I felt odd. How the the gods name did they know size for everything. It was almost unnerving.

I did out a fresh outfit, a white and arrow patterned tank top and simple denim shorts, and slip them on quickly- perfect fitting. Literally. I shudder but decide not to dwell on the fact that they know my size to the T.

Today was Friday the day I was either going to be impaled or doing the impaling in Capture the Flag. I was practically vibrating with excitement for my first game.

The day would be cut shorter to get in Capture the Flag before total darkness. So first in the day was of course, Breakfast.

It didn't take me long to reach the dining pavilion as I was skitting about to get to Clovis. I plopped down at his table, just like I was not supposed to. Clovis jumped and let out a tiny gasp.

"Gods you scared me, Avery." Clovis groans and rests his curly blonde head in his palms.

"Yea sorry, whose team are you on for Capture the Flag?" I ask.

"No way. Hypnos kids don't play. No one wants us on their teams. We just sort of... fall asleep." Clovis says sheepishly.

"Oh... Well, I am on Pollux's team against.. yea I can't remember who but it's against someone!" I say joyfully. Clovis nods.

"Sounds about right." He shrugs. "Well, I am rooting for you. You will do just fine." Clovis gives me a reassuring wink and the day begins.

The day seemed to speed by. My archery lessons went very well (as usual), healing- needs work, and the others... Well the others I didn't really care about. By the time supper had rolled around I was going insane with excitement. A few Area kids were already discussing plans, and Lily and Arthur were talking enthusiastically with each other. Chiron raised his hand and we all silenced.

"Rules of Capture the Flag-" Chiron said. I knew I should listen to what the rules were but I just couldn't stay focused that long. I began fiddling with my hands and bouncing my feet. "Get geared up and when you hear the horn, you may begin!" Chiron says. Hoots, hollers, and excited screamed echoes as the demigods participating marched to the forest. I quickly caught up to Pollux.

"I ah... Wasn't listening what are the rules?" I ask Pollux. Pollux shoves a breast plate and arm guards into my hands.

"Long story short, don't injure anyone severely, stay away from monsters, and don't let the other team win, kapeesh?" He says.

"Kaposh," I respond and the team scatters into the forest.

"You will guard the left flank, don't let anyone through, got it? Oh and don't play nice... This is the Ares Alliance, they play dirty." Pollux chirps and he disappears between the trees. I walk to the spot where he had gestured and planted my feet. It was only a few minutes before the horn blasted through the forest- Capture the Flag had officially begun.

I wait anxiously in the small clearing. The only sound was soft water trickling down a nearby stream and the leaves brushing together in the wind. I jump back and forth between my feet and cracked my neck. Still nothing.

I groan, I wanted to do something, to fight. As if on cue a stick cracked between the bushes. I drew my blades up to my face- bouncing in my spot.

"Come on out, meat man!" I shout. Why I said meat man? I didn't really know, it just sounded right in the current situation.

"I am not a meat man!" Shouts the voice from the bushes. I step closer, keeping myself firm and ready. Suddenly, the Meat Man barrels out of the bushes, catching me off guard and pushing me to the ground. I was quickly struck with a metal fist. I gasp, had been hit and punched before, but never like this.

Play dirty.

I kick my knees up and knee him in the back. He grunts and staggers backwards off of me. My cheekbone feels like it's on fire and I can already tell it will be purple and blue by the time I am done. At least it will match my other bruise from Annabeth.

"Wow dude, brass knuckles? I thought we weren't supposed to use those!" I hiss as I dodge his quick and balanced attacks.

"Rules are meant to be broken." He hisses back, backing me against a coarse tree. He goes to swing, hard, and I drop to my butt to just barely avoid his blow. This was more than playing dirty, now.

"Yea? Well so are people." I say lowly. All of the sudden my body reacts, I hadn't even realized I was doing it until it happened. It was as if I knew exactly where every pressure point, vein, and bone was in his body. My hand flew to the back of his knees and I dug my fingers in hard and fast. He cries out and quickly drops to his knees. I bring my leg around and smash it into his face, sending him to the ground just as quick.

He was a moaning, groaning heap of a kid on the ground. I felt sick suddenly. I hadn't meant to hurt him that badly, I just all the sudden started moving and my hands knew exactly where everything was. A tingle ran up my spine. It was unnerving- I was unnerving.

He groans again the same time another twig snaps beneath someone's weight.

"Shh." I say to him and pick up my blade from the ground. If it was another Ares camper, I was in trouble.

"Meat man number two, come out." I shout. This time there was no response.

Watch out for monsters, and you'll do fine. I had remembered Pollux said.

"Uh... sorry... man on the ground, but are there monsters in this part?" I ask the boy crumpled up on the ground. He didn't answer, instead he let out an angry cry.

"Yea, it's me! And you're going to pay for this and what you did to Drew." He shouts and stands up, wiping the blood away from his lip. He didn't have time to come closer as from the same bush as before, bounded out a creature. A bull. The same bull with its blood-red eyes and cracked tusks.

"H-How... How did it get in here?" I panic and run for the trees. The Ares boy had the same idea as he too was scrambling for the tree. I reach the tree first, using my monkey hands to skitter my way up the tree. The Ares kid, however, snatches my foot and pulls me down to the forest ground. He then climbs the tree himself, reaching the lowest branch which was still very much out of danger. I snap my head back to the bull-boar creature who was pawing the ground and shrieking. It was going to charge. "Please, please get me up here! I am sorry." I scream to the Ares kid as I make my way up the tree. He only looks down at me, his face slack with no expression. The boar catches my ankle, causing me to cry out and fall right back down to the ground.

I curl up in a ball, screaming in anger and nab my dagger from under me. I thrust the blade up into the boars neck. It groans before falling over with a heavy thump. Slowly, I get up and kick the damned thing to make sure it is dead. Then I turn my attention back to the Ares kid who has slipped his brass knuckles back into place.

"You didn't even help, you coward." I say and pick the closest rock to me up. I look at it and judge its weight in my hand before nodding. Good size, good weight to do some ass-kicking.

I chuck the rock at the Ares kid and he just barely misses it, jumping out of the tree. He comes towards me, anger apparent in his beady eyes.

"What's your problem!?" I yell.

"You." He says and wallops me in the ribs. I cry out and he picks me up from behind, I bite down on his arm, drawing blood. The Ares kid winces and continues. "Maybe I can teach you a lesson not to mess with the wrong people." He shouts and wallops me in the head.

\---

I lay on the forest floor, looking up at the gray sky. It looked like it was going to rain... well, rain around us- it didn't rain here unless we wanted it to. My body feels heavy, like the blood in my veins is lead. Maybe it is? Cool.

I can hear a familiar soft voice calling my name.

"Avery! Avery, come on. We won the game! No cleaning for a week!" Pollux shouts. I groan as I turn over, as I do so the memories come flooding back in. That dirty bastard.

"I'm over here, Pollux." I say softly. I doubt that he could even hear me. The dirt on the ground is cool, which is a relief since the rest of my body felt like it was on fire. I hear footsteps approach.

"Geez, Avery. Now is not the time to take a nap. Come on-" Pollux says as he approaches. He stops dead in his tracks, looking at the dead boar before rushing to me. "Hey, hey, what happened?" He asks quickly as he holds my head. I swat at him with my hands. I didn't need to be babied. As I lay on the ground. Wining.

"Pumba and Timone." I mumble. It even hurt to be funny.

"What?" He asks quickly.

"Monster boar and an Ares kid." I say quietly. Pollux lets out a quick breath before picking me up bridal style. If I wasn't in so much pain, I would have let out a smart ass comment. Pollux shuffles along before he was huffing and puffing.

 

"Hey! Will! I need help, quick!" Pollux shouts when we reach the edge of the forest. Will whips his head around and his eyes widen when he sees me. He clambers over to me, fear in his eyes. From the corner of my eyes I can see Brianna. I cringe, I didn't really want anyone seeing me like this, especially my youngest sister. Pollux set me down on a beige stretcher and a sharp stabbing pain throbbed in my side.

"Hey, keep everyone away, got it? No one needs to see this yet- it' rude." Will says, patting Percy Jackson on the shoulder. Percy looks down at my sympathetically before shooing people away. Pollux and Will lift the stretcher and rush me to the Apollo Cabin.

\--

After Pollux is gone, Will pulls the curtain and nabs nectar from the corner pot. I take my shirt off painfully, and set it aside. I look down at my torso to see a nasty bruise and a bloodied deep scratch.

"Drink," Will mumbles and shoves the glass into my hands as he rushes to get gauze and several other trinkets. I lean back against the table and wince as I swallow the sweet substance. "What happened?" He asks.

"I was doing just fine and ended up battling with an Ares kid. All of the sudden he started making it less and less of just a Capture the Flag kind of fight. Then a stupid boar came out of no where." I exhale as Will pushes against the wound.

"Boars are common," Will sighs.

"This one wasn't. This was the same one that had chased me here, Will. I swear." I hiss. Will meets my eyes fearfully. Then he shakes his head, as if arguing with himself. "After the boar appeared I tried to get up into the tree. The Ares kid pulled my down and left me down there to get kicked by the damned thing." I say unhappily. "After I killed it I got upset and started throwing things at the kid and he jumped down and started saying something about pay back, learning a lesson, and Drew."

"What did he look like?" Will asks, wrapping the gauze around my torso. The pain was slowly fading.

"Dark hair, beady brown eyes. Kind of fat. He wore these brass knuckle things that gangsters wear in TV shows." I describe. Will scoffs.

"One of Drew's love-muffs." He says. "I will be reporting him soon."

Will looks over my body, nodding as he hands me an ice pack.

"I think I got everything, how are you feeling now?" He asks. I shrug.

"Like dirt, but good dirt." I reply. Miranda would have been proud to hear that from me. Will suddenly stops, narrowing his eyes as he comes closer to my shoulder. He brushes his fingers over my shoulder and collar bone.

"What's this from?" Will asks quietly. I look to where he was pointing. On my right shoulder and collar bone is small, faint little circles. They almost blended in, almost. I swallow my saliva and suddenly, I don't want to be here anymore. I don't want to be anywhere.

"Old scars from when I was younger." I answer vaguely and shrug. Will looks at me doubtfully.

"I have seen similar marks on very few other campers, and none of them are good. Please tell me it's not what I think it is." Will whispers. I drop my eyes. I am both ashamed that he recognizes them and that I let them be noticed.

"My step-father didn't buy many ash trays." I whisper back. Will closes his eyes, cringing. He steps forward and gives me a quick hug.

"I didn't mean to bring it up." Will says softly. I can only shrug and Will sighs as he begins cleaning up what supplies are still left out. Will hands me a towel to cover up with since my new shirt was a sliced-and-diced mess. Suddenly the door bursts open and with ninja like reflexes, Will throws the towel over my body. Will steps forward to block the person and I crane my neck to see the boy.

Clovis Atwood. My homeslice.

Clovis pushes his way through through the Will barrier I gave Clovis a nice little finger wave and my towel slips. I don't care. I look like a mummy. A cool mummy.

"H-Hi, Clovis," I say. Part of me wanders if he can see the scars as expertly as Will. Clovis wave back quickly before turning to Will for answers.

"I heard what happened, is she okay?" Clovis asks, stammering sheepishly.

"She'll be fine. You can't just break in here, though. There's a little thing called privacy, Clovis." Will says bitterly as he rests his hands on his hips. Clovis opens his mouth to say something but I had been quiet too long. I raise my hand and they both silence.

"It's fine, Will. He's already seen my like this-"

"He, WHAT?" Will barks bluntly. He turns to Clovis, deathly grim, mumbling something about trust under his breath. Clovis's arms arms fly up defensively.

"Let me explain!" Clovis cries out, stepping backwards away from the angry Will. I burst out laughing, how could I not?

"Why are you laughing? Avery, what the Hades did he do to you?" Will hisses, glancing back and forth between us. Clovis slips in next to me, and I explain the situation to my elder brother. Will relaxes the more I go on. After, Will mutters a quick apology before crossing his arms in front of him. "I should go talk with our siblings, they're all probably worried sick." Will says and turns to the door. The door shuts softly and Clovis and I are silent for a few moments.

"Dude, I threw a rock at that Ares kid and I am pretty sure he could taste the fury." I begin.

\---

We visit for what seems like forever. A forever I don't want to end. The Apollo cabin's lights were dimmed into a soft golden hue, and through the big bay windows the moon light shone through faintly, mixing the two light together. The light cast funny shapes across the walls and our faces. I guessed that Will had left us be and somehow convinced Arthur, Lily, and Brianna to leave us too. I would have to thank him later.

Clovis yawns gently and he scratches the back of his head. "Listen, Avery. I'll visit you tomorrow, but it's pretty late. I've gotta go to sleep and make sure my siblings haven't let the cabin burn down. Promise you won't hurt yourself more than you already have?" Clovis asks and gives me a funny look. I stick my tongue out at him. What an idiot. Of course I was going to hurt myself more- it's just the way I function.

"No promises here, Sleepy. Good night." I mumble to him. Clovis sighs and gives me a little wave before Will opens the door for him. The door shut softly behind him and that was all I remembered before I passed out.

\-----

"Morning, Avery. How are you today? Any sores, bleeding in odd places, or sudden feeling to bite something?" Will asks. The sun was just barely shining in through the cabin windows and I was antsy to get up and go.

"I'm all good, can I see Clovis?" I ask quickly. Will hesitates.

"He might be still sleeping, Avery." Will says softly.

"Well he can get up, he's lazy and I want to visit more." I demand. Will rolls his eyes and helps me out of the makeshift bed. Will hands me a loose forest green shirt. I balance myself before giving him a thumbs up.

"Take it easy, ok? Do you need help getting there?" Will asks.

"Nope." I say just as I walk out the Apollo Cabin to the Hypnos Cabin.

I grunt as I finally reach the cabin. It's kitty corner from my own cabin so it's not that much of a walk, but it's still a pain. I knock on the wide wooden door and wait. I knock again, growing impatient with Clovis and I tap my feet on the outside mat. I am about to knock again before the door swings open. A very confused, messy blond haired Clovis appears in the door. His eyes narrow and his brows furrow.

"Morning, Sleeping Beauty." I tease, rocking on the balls of my feet.

"What in the Gods are you doing here? You should be resting and actually staying put for once to heal up!" Clovis whispers sharply ad he runs a hand through his hair. "Will is going to kill me." I shrug. But Clovis still looks worried, like something bad happened. Maybe he watched the Lion King or something.

"Will is not going to kill you. Will knows. Also, I am only a bit sore, I am not a sissy. I can handle this, okay?" I mutter and wince slightly while i shift my weight to my left side. "It's cold as balls out here, are you going to let me in?" I ask. Clovis stares for a split second before shaking his head and opening the door further to let me in. He mumbles something under his breath and shuts the door behind us. Clovis picks at his nails nervously. I wobble to the edge of the bed and plop down. The bed was still warm from where Clovis had slept.

Already I could feel a nasty tingling feeling spreading in my upper torso. I knew I was going to bleed soon and I also knew I couldn't reach the spot to bandage it up without hurting myself more. Whoops.

I kept glancing up at Clovis but he refused to meet my eyes. I began to make a game of it, glancing up quickly, making a face, and glancing down again. He didn't even react. He seemed so... distant. I decide to fix that and I yank Clovis down to me, looking him dead in the eyes as my nose almost touches his once again.

"Alright, Clovis. What's wrong? You seem way more out-of-it than usual." I say, pulling away and gently holding my bruised ribs closer to me. Should I tell him that I am bleeding out? Nah, not now.

"Ah... nightmare." Clovis gave me a nervous laugh. I frown. I knew too much about those.

"Hm... that sucks. What was it about?" I ask softly and my ribs suddenly feel like a small fire was set on them. The ambrosia from last night was wearing off, fast. I knew it wouldn't be long before his bed sheets were stained. Clovis looked like he was going to talk but I didn't give him a chance as I shot up from his plush bed.

"So, uh, sorry to interrupt, but I am sorta bleeding and I need help." I say, a certain edge of pain lacing my words. Clovis shot up too, his eyes widening as I lift up my slightly bloody hands and shrug. "Gauze, water, and uhhh-" I begin to explain. I could probably guide him through this.

"Lay down, Avery." Clovis says, rushing to a small first aide kit. What ever was bothering him before quickly disappeared. As if someone snapped their fingers, the ambrosia wore off and I let out a grunt of pain. Damn Ares kid, I was going to show him a lesson. Clovis's hands were slightly shaking as he laid the supplies out. "Lay still and move your hands. This is probably going to hurt, Avery." Clovis mumbles, looking me in the eyes.

I shrug, attempting to keep my cool. "Of course it is." I whisper. Clovis shakes his head as he unwraps the old gauze and readies the new one. "Pressure to the-" I was cut off when Clovis dug a new sheet into my bloody cut and I groan.

"I know kind of what I am doing. Just sit back and chill, got it?" Clovis scolds. I roll my eyes and let him do his work, lifting my shirt up further. Oh boy... he was in for a treat he might have not wanted. I may or may have not worn a bra. I cringe and turn away, I faintly hoped that he would too. Clovis says nothing as he continues to work, bandaging odds and ends together. The comfortable tightening of a new bandage works its way around my torso and I let out a careful sigh of relief. Clovis was intently focused on the wound, his face dusted with light red blushes. I mentally thanked him for the privacy even though I barely gave him any. He looked like he was either very focused or could gag and throw up at any moment. But alas, he finished, exhaling loudly as he sat back. My face was still bright red by the time he finished.

"I am no doctor, but I think I did alright." Clovis sighs, rubbing his face, smearing the tiniest bit of blood on his forehead. I shudder. Man.... I wouldn't want anyone else's blood anywhere on me and I instantly felt guilty.

"No you definitely did more than alright. I am impressed." I say. We were quiet before I broke the few seconds of silence again. "Clovis, I am sorry." Clovis snaps his eyes up at me, as if he was angry. I drop my eyes, realizing this was not a game and it never would be. "I didn't mean to worry you or anything. I should have made Will do it or something before. I'm sorry for making you do this, and I am sorry for coming here so damn early, too. I just... I don't know I couldn't sleep well and wanted company." I bumble out. I shut my mouth quickly after. My mouth usually got me in trouble, and I didn't want to be in trouble with Clovis.

"Its fine, Avery. I understand. It's nice seeing you even though you are bleeding to death," he teases. I roll my eyes.

"Not funny, Clovis." I mutter, but my tone tells him otherwise. Clovis smirks and gives me a hand gun gesture.

"Bang," He says softly. I smile and attempt to sit up to bite his finger the same way I did Leo, but Clovis panics, pushing me back down. "No no no! No moving, I don't want to do that again. You'll feel better tomorrow as long as the bandages stay on." He says. "I am going to take a shower, alright? Think you can behave?" Clovis gestures to the dim light shining through the bathroom.

"Maybe." I reply, shrugging. Clovis shook his head before snatching up his clothes and walking to the bathroom, shutting it softly behind him. I wait a few seconds before standing up. I refused to stay and wait for him. I wobble to his dresser and pick around at his clothes. Nothing better to do to fill the time than to dress up in Clovis's clothes, right? It only takes me a few minutes to find small cargo pants with a belt still in them. I tighten it and throw a Camp Half-Blood shirt from the very back corner of my head. Clovis probably didn't even know that shirt existed as it was only a tiny bit bigger on me. Suddenly the door creaks open slowly.

"Avery, why are-" Clovis stood in the door way, his hair still dripping slightly. "What are you doing with my clothes?" He asks, looking me up and down with confusion on his face.

"C-Changing." I say. His face was turning a soft shade of pink. He shakes his head.

"Well.... what ever floats your boat." He responds, attempting to sound unaffected. "Aren't those a bit big?"

I shake my head quickly. "They're fine. Plus they kinda smell like y-" I stop and stare at him awkwardly. I fucking hated my mouth. My loud ass mouth that always got me into so much trouble. Clovis suddenly laughs, breaking the awkward silence between us.

"You really like torturing me, don't you?" He mumbles, giving me an odd side glance. I tried to keep a straight face but it failed when I realized that I had missed something dirty.

"Depends on what you mean..." I respond bashfully.


	7. Chapter 7: Throw the Knives

Two weeks one day and something like five hours does a lot to two people. Clovis and I were nearly inseparable. If we weren't away at lessons or with siblings, we were together. I was excited, really. I had never had any real friends my age that stuck with me. Being home schooled sucks when you don't have many neighbors to play with. Anyhow, most nights if Will didn't plead with me to stay in the cabin let me go to the Hypnos cabin. Insomnia sucks, well... sometimes.

Whenever I was with Clovis it seemed like he had a whole new renewed energy to him. He was happier, more awake, stuff like that- and it made me feel good, needed. We were sitting together at the beach edge, our feet flicking around in the water as we chatted about everything and nothing all at the same time.

"Hey Clovis?" I ask.

"What?" He responds, looking at me with a small smile on his face.

"Why is there a 'D' in fridge but not in refrigerator?" I ask. Clovis freezes and I look over at him. His brows are furrowed and he has a mildly terrified look on his face. I could see him carefully spelling out the word under his breath, but failed several times. Dyslexia.

"Ok, smarty-pants. How do you spell it then, huh?" Clovis scoffs and leans back.

"Uh... I don't know, that's why I thought you would spell it out for me." I shrug. Clovis and I laugh. Suddenly, a hollow horn sounds out, echoing through out the camp. Clovis stands quickly and I follow him. His baby blue eyes look both esc

"Wait, what is that supposed to mean?" I ask quickly, seeing Clovis look both concerned and joyful.

"New camper." Clovis says softly.

"Oh... that's good, right?" I ask. Clovis nods and shrugs.

"Come on, let's check it out." Clovis says, lending me his hand. I took it happily though I knew it wouldn't be long before I was the one leading him. We reach the top of the hill just above the dining pavilion to see indeed, a girl with silky chocolate brown skin and long slick black hair. In a way she looked like Pocahontas from the Disney movies, but suddenly a wave of discomfort rolled through me an I released Clovis's hand. He stops and spins around.

Watch it. 

"What?" I ask quietly. Had Clovis said that? "Watch what?" Clovis pauses, looking at me in concern.

"I didn't say anything. Are you okay, Avery?" Clovis asks, tilting his head.

Aphrodite's daughter. Do not trust-

The voice was suddenly caught of short and I panic slightly. The voice was so soft, but concerned, comforting even. What had happened to it?

"What?" I ask even quieter. Clovis bites his lip.

"Maybe I should get Will," Clovis mutters, worry playing at his words. He begins to turn back to Will who was already speaking with the new girl. "Hey, Will? Ave-" Clovis was cut off.

"Hey there, Clovis! I'm going to need you to give Nyla a quick tour of the camp. I need to speak with Chiron- the usual. Just meet back up at the campfire tonight. Avery, archery lessons will still be with me, just head down and I will meet back up with you after I touch base with Chiron. Oh and Brianna is with Miranda at lessons currently." Will says fast and he was already down by the bottom of the hill, sprinting to inform Chiron of the unusual events. I slump my shoulders forward. I had wanted to spend the day with Clovis, like normal, but I couldn't keep Arthur and Lily waiting for me.

I give Clovis a thumbs up, anyway. "Good luck." I didn't think he heard me, though. Nyla's hands were squishing Clovis's cheeks in a childish way and their noses were almost touching. Her eyes lit up the same way Clovis had once said mine did when I looked at something I truly enjoyed. I shuddered and Clovis only smiles weakly at the beautiful Nyla in front of him. I turned on my heal, away from them before my heart could drop any further than it already had.

~*~

"Alright, steady. All Apollo kids are already talented at Archery but it doesn't hurt to touch up on them." Will muttered, adjusting my arm up. "Good now but this on." Will finished, handing me a bandana. I set my bow in between my legs and tied the bandana tightly around my head, covering my eyes. "Okay, so raise the bow and-"

I fired the bow off quickly. I set my bow down again and untied the bandana. Bulls-eye.

"Lucky shot." Will says breathlessly. "Really lucky." Will mutters, nodding his head in approval. I spit on the ground as I catch a quick glimpse of Nyla and Clovis. Nyla's arms are tightly wrapped around his arm and she smiles while she looks at him. Her perfect white pearly teeth and perfect dimples and perfect everything else.

"Pissed off shot." I mutter under my breath. Will looks at me concerningly, brushing his thumb over his thumb.

"Right. Knife throwing." Will says, handing me several small knives to throw. "Hit at least ten more bulls-eyes and we'll be done for the day.

\-----

"Okay, we should take a break. Lunch is soon and you will be moving on from this lesson." Will concludes, sighing as he helps me take off my leather gauntlets and putting my quiver of bronze arrows away. I thanked him and tucked the throwing knives in their pouch for the next lesson, giving them a good pat in their leather satchel. I still had one bulls-eye to go but I bet Will will have forgotten by now.

I stood in line, ready for cheeseburgers and potato chips with a side of some good apple juice. I glance to the Hypnos table where Nyla was once again attached to the hip with him. She twists and apple in her hand smiling innocently as she offers him an apple. He gently shakes his head but she pursues, shoving the apple closer to his face.

"Hey, kiddo, you all good? You seem distracted." Will says, drawing my angry gaze away from them.

"Just fine and dandy." I mumble and take a deep breath. It was alright if Clovis had more friends. I by no means, own him. He was my friend, my dearest friend here. So was I bothered when someone else wanted to be his friend? Who attached herself to him, making lustful gestures towards him? Ushering him away from him each time? Calling herself his dearest friend already?

Screw it. Yeah, I was mad.

I took one last glance to Clovis's table as I made my way to my own Apollo table. Nyla was now practically shoving the apple into his mouth, her nose nuzzling his cheek. She rolls her eyes and takes her perfectly groomed nails and hands and jerks his face towards her own. She offers it again, her features growing both pouty and terrifying at the same time. Clovis finally takes a hearty bite out of it. Nyla smiles approvingly and turns the apple towards her, biting out of the same exact spot Clovis had. I momentarily gag and before I knew it my plate full of food clatters to the floor and my hand has whipped to my satchel, sending the glinting steel throwing knife right at Nyla's apple.

Nyla jumps and quickly looks to me, her eyes growing narrower. I refused to meet Clovis's eyes however. I may have over reacted by a little bit.

The dining pavilion silenced immediately and the kids inside looked back and forth between the throwing knife lodged in Nyla's apple and to me. I could feel that some of my hair had fallen from my pony-tail and was now tickling my cheek but that was definitely the least of my concerns at the moment.

"What the Hades do you think you are doing!" Will shouts, grabbing me by the wrists and shaking my slightly. His eyes were wild with anger.

"I hit the last bulls-eye you told me to hit." I hiss, my anger slowly seeping away from me. What had I done? I was so overcome with anger and emotions that I had let myself rampage around. If I had missed, what would have happened? It seemed as if the whole camps eyes were on me now, which they probably were.

"You could have killed someone, you absolute idiot!" Will shouts once again, tightening his angry grip. My mind zaps somewhere else almost immediately. Somewhere I never wanted to be again.

"You killed her, you absolute idiot!" He hissed, sending me tumbling backwards against the chilled corner of the house. "You made mama go away, and she ain't ever comin' back." He rest his cigarette on my collar bone, sending me into a fretting fitful crying session. "It should have been you, instead." He stumbles away, taking his burnt out cigarette away from my skin. He kicks an empty beer bottle around and it rolls to my tired figure as I collapse on the ground, begging for whatever God or Goddess there was above to take me away.

"But I didn't!" I cry out. I was answering to both Will and Him. In an instant I bit down on Will's wrists. Instinctively, Will lets go of my wrists and massages them quickly, his face scrunched up in mild pain. No one laughed, no one spoke, not even Drew as I ran away, dodging Will's out-stretched arms. I didn't care where I was going, I just knew I was going somewhere. Somewhere away from here. I had ruined and messed up again. It was my nature, to destroy things once they started going good for me.

I easily slid under the familiar fence post of the Firefly Meadow. All at once the world seemed to quiet around me. The tall green grasses brushed against each other, and several beautiful butterflies show off their wings to small nature fairies in the sky. I plop down, hoping that if anyone would come looking for me that they would only see the tall green grasses swaying in the wind.

"Gods, I am stupid." I whisper to myself, squishing my head between my hands. I brought my knees to my chin and sat. Even the warm sun didn't seem to bring me comfort at the moment.

The only person not ashamed of me was now ashamed. Apollo.

I let a few tears slide down my puffy cheeks. Maybe this wasn't the place. It was a false sense of belonging. Suddenly footsteps, four sets of them, began to approach, clomping heavily towards me. I flinch as the sudden voice scares me.

"Avery Ace." Chiron's familiar silky voice says. He clicks his tongue. "I thought it was you." I drew my knees closer to me. I didn't feel like getting the news of getting kicked out at the moment. My heart beats thunderously in my chest despite my calm and tired physical appearance. "Your half brother, Will Solace, sent me to find you."

"Why didn't he come himself? He has before." I mumble bitterly.

"He was both ashamed and upset. He felt it would be best if I talk before he." Chiron says, lowering his thick horse body so he was now on his knees.

"He's already said what he needed to." I say, wiping away the tears I refused Chiron to see, but I could already tell that Chiron had seen them.

"You know he didn't mean it. He was angry, making him say and do rash things. It was no different than what you did." Chiron says gently. "But in your case he was very worried after he had yelled. He feared that he might have unintentionally sent you into a... relapse." I pick at my nails and remain silent. "It has come to my attention that you may have been mistreated at home." Chiron says, crossing his arms in front of him. I shrug, avoiding his eyes and I look the other way completely.

"I am fine." I grumble. I could feel Chiron' doubtful gaze on my back. "It only lasted a few seconds." I add. Chirons nods, but I did not want his pity.

"Will you tell me what went through your mind, the whole day? And what led up to you throwing such a sharp object?" Chiron presses. I sigh, knowing I couldn't escape any punishment, but that wasn't knew. Punishment was an always.

I tell him all about my day. About what made Clovis and I so close, a few details at home, my mother, and the insomniac that I was. At that Chiron softened, but he looked both confused and troubled when I mention that I was a insomniac. I did leave out the small warning voice in my head from earlier. Chiron simply listened, tapping his nose or chin every so often. Maybe it was so he could stay awake. I finish talking just as the sun hits the horizon. The butterflies are now all gone and I knew the fireflies would soon be coming.

"Well, Avery Ace, you and Clovis remind me of a mortals story. Perhaps you know it well. Beauty and the Beast?" Chiron starts. I scoff but nod my head anyway. "Good friends," Chiron pauses and corrects himself. "Great friends. The Beast, rough, tough, protective, and brute. The Beast also has a temper, and can be ruthless- You Avery Ace. And well.... Beauty." Chiron chuckles. "Calm, collected, gentle, slow.... Clovis Atwood." Chiron finishes, humming something softly before he scratched the small tuft of hair on his chin. "Well, no matter. I believe no dessert for a month and a half as well as no weapons of any sort is to be on you unless by lessons and or given command. Am I understood?" Chiron asks, looking sharply at me,

"But-" I begin to protest.

"Am. I. Understood?" Chiron asks again sternly. I nod my head shamefully.

"Now, let's head back, shall we?" Chiron asks. I nod my head slowly once again.

~*~

Chiron bid me farewell as I slid into the the dimmed Apollo Cabin. It was most likely dinner now as I had practically skipped my last three lessons of the day to spend in the meadow alone. Even then I hadn't gotten my wishes as it was ruined by Chiron. He treated me as if he were walking on eggshells.

I let out a gentle sigh of relief as my cabin is completely empty. I wiggle my toes in my worn shoes before trotting over to the piano. It seemed brand new, and beautifully polished. I traced my hands over the matching mahogany colored violin. The rest of the instruments were neatly tucked away, including the guitar, flute, and harp. I sat down on the creaky piano bench and pressed one of the ivory's experimentally. Its sound echoed softly in the cabin. I mentally thanked whoever built the Apollo cabin. The acoustics were outstanding. 

I was about to press another one of the keys before the door burst open, and I jump in my seat.

"A-Avery?" Lily's sweet voice asks. She stands still at the door as she blinks several times, unsure of how to handle me. A pang of guilt ripples through me. "Everyone is uh... worried. Will is really worried, though. He wanted to apologize and- well, let me just go get him." Lily says, her curious eyes lighting up as she skitters off. I rest my elbows on my knees to prop up my head. The cabin was once again silent, leaving my spontaneous mind to wander.

It wandered to Clovis. I didn't really mean it to, it just did. His soft curly blonde hair, his dazed sky blue eyes. His soft fingertips grazing my face or arms. I shivered. Chiron wasn't wrong, Clovis was definitely a Beauty. That, of course, left me as the one and only Beast. I pout and begin to trace shapes and words into the wall to ease my troubled mind. It was only a few minutes later did I realize that I was tracing Clovis's name. Ew.

He'd probably look weird at me. If he wasn't with Nyla, at least. But at least he would look, right? My mind once again wandered back to the fireflies. I wanted so badly to relive that night, to rid away from this reality. I didn't want to leave. Suddenly, a flicker of light outlines my hand, sputtering as if it were struggling to stay lit. I shook my hands back and forth, attempting to get the soft golden hue away from my hands. I flung them around wildly, standing up in a hurry.

The door flies open much like it did when Lily first opened the door. The glowing of my hands vanished and for a second I wondered if I was insane. I had saw it, right?

I finally raise my eyes to the loud door opener, Will Solace. He looks me up and down carefully, his pretty eyes flitting around rapidly. He exhales as if relieved and before I can say more, my head is against Will's chest and his arms are wrapped around me tightly. I stagger backwards because of the uneven weight and fall back onto a spare bed. Will still hasn't let go, his eyes are closed painfully but he gives me a little smile.

"Will... I-I didn't really-" I began before realizing my own lip was quavering and built up tears were blurring my vision. I truly didn't know why I had thrown the knife but for pure resentment. I didn't want to be kicked out of this camp. I wanted to belong, I didn't want to leave anyone here.

"Shh, Avery. I am sorry. I overreacted and didn't realize it until you just sort of... stopped for a few minutes. I didn't mean to send you into a relapse and Gods.." Will pauses. "I am sorry." Will mumbles, kissing my forehead softly.

"I am sorry, too." I reply, letting my arms wander around him so I could hug him tightly back. This was the medicine I needed. I relax against him and he exhales slowly. The cabin was quiet, the sky was dimmed, Will was warm, and I was comfortable. I sigh as I let myself go, the weight of my consequences releasing, so I could sleep.

But not before soft shuffling, and a soft voice saying my name. 

 

~*~

I yawn and carefully slip out of Will's sleeping bear arms. He mumbles something inaudible in his sleep before I pull the silky golden covers out from under him and carefully on top of him.

"Thank you, Will." I whisper quietly as I step out of the warm inviting interior of Cabin Seven. The air is slightly chilly and to the left a blazing fire is lit, illuminating the sky. Nyla's claiming campfire, I was sure.

I should probably apologize to her, I didn't know what I was thinking at that moment, but it wasn't good. I sigh and begin trudging my way up to the campfire. The campfire was packed, everyone cheered and drank down several beverages, probably punch. Spiked.

I paw my way through the crowd, attempting to find my closest friend. I spot one of Clovis's siblings but quickly realize that by how uncomfortable they looked, they didn't know where he was either. Finally, I spot Clovis's old Camp Half-Blood shirt with the small ketchup stain on the sleeve. I smile to myself, he may be Beauty, but he was definitely still a slob. I approach him, a new energy piling in me.

Nyla's thin, smooth legs appear out of no where, and are quickly wrapped around Clovis's waist, straddling him to the log he sat on. In one hand she held some of the punch, in the other, her perfectly groomed hand was wandering over his face and down his arm. I bite my lip, knowing better than to interfere. Too much.

I cough. "Hey, a... Clovis?" I ask, there was only one answer, however and it was not from Clovis. A blinding pale pink light flashes across the campfire. Several campers including me cover our eyes, but Clovis's bright eyes stay glued to her. Once the light had dispersed, a pretty dove twirled above her head. An Aphrodite child. Her dark hair was hung in pretty little ringlets, and her once stylish hipster outfit was replaced with a blazing red dress and gold circlet around her smooth forehead. Clovis looks up at her as if she was the world.

Nyla blew Clovis a kiss as she climbs off of his lap. I could see Clovis's siblings looking at me with worried glances. The campers begin to clap, and a few whistles ring through the crowd. I clap my hands quietly too, though I felt no joy behind the action.

"Let's get out of this train wreck, what do you say, honey?" Nyla asks Clovis smoothly. Clovis's smiles widely and he nods his head, lust in his eyes. They bustle past me, even bumping my arm.

"Clovis.." I whisper, though I knew it was no good. I had lost my best friend today.

**Author's Note:**

> Read from Clovis's POV from Jezzycat202's Son of Hypnos! (On Wattpad I have a total of 30 Chapters however I am remaking lot's of the younger chapters! This chapter is a remake and I will work from there so updating may be a bit slow. I love feedback so don't be afraid to comment what you like, don't like, etc.!


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